The Department of Labor announced Jan. 12 that it has finalized a rule that would raise the four mandatory wage levels for H-1B workers, in an attempt to prevent abuse of the program by employers.
The new rule, which goes into effect 60 days after it is entered into the Federal Register, also applies to EB-2 and EB-3 visa applicants, H1B1 workers from Singapore and Chile, and E-3 visa holders from Australia. The majority of H-1B visas are held by highly-skilled workers from India.
âThe U.S. Department of Labor is taking these steps to strengthen wage protections, address abuses in visa programs, and protect American workers from being undercut by cheaper foreign labor,â said Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia in a press statement.