- 3 United States senators introduce 2 bills to tighten H-1B and L-1 visa rules and close 'loopholes'
- Chuck Grassley and Dick Durbin proposed raising wage standards and narrowing eligibility for H-1B, L-1 visas
- Tom Cotton introduced legislation to restrict universities and non-profits from unlimited foreign hiring
United States lawmakers continued tightening rules for the H-1B and L-1 worker visa programmes Monday after three senators introduced two separate pieces of legislation to target "loopholes" used by for- and non-profit employers.
The top Republican and Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee - Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, and Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois - tabled a bill to raise wage and hiring standards, mandate public job postings, and narrowing visa eligibility, among others.
"Congress created the H-1B and L-1 visa programs as limited pathways for businesses to acquire top talent when it can't be found at home. But over the years, many employers have used them to cut out American workers in favour of cheap foreign labour," Grassley said.
Durbin pointed out major companies lay off thousands of American workers while filing visa petitions for foreign workers at depressed wages and poor working conditions. "Congress must step in to protect American workers and fix our broken immigration system," he said.
NEW Sen Durbin & I just reintrod our bipartisan bill 2 reduce fraud/abuse in H1B & L1 visa programs + provide protections for American&foreign workers We hv been pushing reforms since 2007 Our legislation is needed now more than ever
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) September 29, 2025
Grassley and Durbin's bill has shades of a legislation first proposed in 2007, when it was backed by Tommy Tuberville, a Republican from Alabama, and Democrat Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, as well as Bernie Sanders, an independent lawmaker from Vermont.
Separately, Tom Cotton, the Republican from Arkansas, presented legislation restricting universities, research institutions, and non-profits' ability to hire unlimited foreign workers.
Colleges and universities have abused H-1B loopholes to hire woke professors from around the world. That's why I've introduced a bill to ensure no entity receives an exemption to the visa cap. https://t.co/8KhQAOsPca
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) September 30, 2025
"Colleges and universities shouldn't get special treatment for bringing in woke and anti-American professors from around the world. My bill closes these loopholes that universities have abused for far too long," Cotton said on his website.
The L-1 allows companies to transfer existing employees from overseas offices to the US.
The H-1B visa programme, widely used by the US technology sector to hire skilled workers from India and China, has been under the spotlight after President Donald Trump last month imposed a $100,000 annual fee - a seismic jump from the current rate of $215 - on applicants.
RECAP | Trump Administration Plans To Scrap H-1B Lotteries, Floats New Rules
Concurrently, the Trump administration also announced plans to abandon the existing lottery system (of allocation) in favour of a weighted selection process. The Department of Homeland Security proposed selection based on the wage level; i.e., workers in the highest of four wage levels.
Therefore, a worker earning an annual salary of $162,528 - will receive four 'lottery tickets', while those in lower tier will get fewer. Applicants in the lowest tier will receive only one.
Indians make up 71 per cent of all H-1B grants, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services data. Indian IT giants like TCS, Infosys, and Wipro rely heavily on these and this could cost them billions. A direct outcome would be reduced hiring or returning jobs to India.
RECAP | What India Said On Proposed Changes To H-1B Visa Selection Process
The Indian government has acknowledged the proposed rule changes and the one-month comment period. The Ministry of External Affairs underlined the point that skilled talent mobility and exchanges had contributed enormously to technological development and innovation in the US and India.
RECAP | How New Visa Rules By Trump Is Shattering American Dream For Many Indians
The government also said the hike could have humanitarian consequences and cause disruptions among families, and that it is studying this and further implications of the hike.
With input from agencies
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