Foreigners seeking employment and higher education in the United States, particularly Indian professionals, have received a major shock. Aiming to increase transparency in the H-1B visa process and curb its misuse, Republican Senator Tim Sheehy has introduced a new bill in the US Senate titled the “End H-1B Abuse Act.” This new H-1B visa bill introduced in the US Senate is expected to have a serious impact on the future of foreign professionals and Indian students.
Senator Tim Sheehy made clear that the primary intent of the bill is to protect the interests of American domestic workers and strengthen national security. He stated that the main objective behind these proposals is to prevent hardworking Americans from being replaced by foreign workers available at lower wages.
Under the bill’s most stringent proposal, a complete three-year pause on the issuance of new H-1B visas has been sought in order to thoroughly overhaul the H-1B program. It is proposed that during this three-year period, loopholes within the program be corrected before it is reintroduced with new regulations.
The bill also calls for permanently abolishing the random lottery system that has been in place for decades. In its place, it proposes prioritizing visa allocation based on a wage-based selection system, favoring foreign candidates receiving the highest salaries, while further tightening the annual quota limit.
In a move that would severely impact the Indian IT sector, the bill proposes a complete ban on third-party staffing agencies and the contract employment model. This would deal a major blow to the practice of sending employees to the US through IT contracting companies.
The bill also imposes strict provisions on family-based visas. It seeks to eliminate the ability of H-1B visa holders to bring their dependents (family members) to the US, while also revoking the “dual intent” provision that currently allows a pathway toward permanent residency (green card).
It also proposes the complete elimination of the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, which supports international students studying in the US. This would strip foreign students of the ability to remain in the US and obtain temporary work authorization after completing their graduation.
The Senate bill also seeks to legislatively reinstate the hefty $100,000 (approximately ₹97 lakh) fee previously imposed by the US government on visas. If all these proposals are enacted into law, they would place a severe financial and administrative burden on companies.
Previously, Republican Congressman Eli Crane made similar proposals in the House of Representatives, which included reducing the annual cap of 85,000 visas and disallowing dependents.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s earlier decision to raise the H-1B visa fee to $100,000 has suffered a setback in a US appeals court. The appeals court declined to stay a ruling by the Boston District Court, which had struck down the fee hike, deeming it an unlawful tax.
The court observed that the President does not have the authority to impose such a massive fee without Congressional approval, and that the government had failed to demonstrate the urgent harm to the nation that would justify this decision. As a result, US courts have effectively put a check on the Trump administration’s decisions on this matter.
The “End H-1B Abuse Act” currently introduced in the Senate is only a preliminary bill at this stage. For it to become law, it must be passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the US Congress, and subsequently signed by the President. While this development is a matter of concern for the Indian IT sector (companies like TCS, Infosys, and Wipro) and students aspiring to go to the US, it is unlikely to come into effect immediately.