On September 18, 2026, President Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Enhancing Program Integrity and Interagency Coordination in the Administration of the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Program.” The order directs federal agencies involved in the H-1B process to increase coordination and to consider additional employment and labor-market information when reviewing H-1B Labor Condition Applications (“LCAs”), petitions, visa applications, and entry into the United States. Most significantly for employers, the order instructs agencies to consider whether an H-1B sponsoring employer has conducted layoffs during the preceding year or plans future layoffs that negatively affect similarly situated U.S. workers.

The Executive Order does not establish a new H-1B visa category or replace the existing statutory framework. Instead, it directs the Departments of State, Labor, and Homeland Security to coordinate with the Departments of Commerce and Education and the Small Business Administration when administering the H-1B program. Those three agencies are directed to provide any relevant wage, employment, academic, industrial, or other economic information bearing on H-1B adjudications and compliance. The administration describes the measure as an effort to increase program integrity and oversight.

Layoffs May Receive Greater Attention in H-1B Matters

The most likely provision to affect employers immediately is workforce reductions. The order directs the Departments of State, Labor, and Homeland Security, consistent with existing law, to take into account whether an H-1B sponsor directly or indirectly engaged in layoffs during the prior year or plans future layoffs that negatively affect similarly situated U.S. workers when considering an H-1B LCA, petition, visa application, or entry into the United States.

This language may prompt additional questions about an employer’s recent hiring and workforce-reduction history, particularly when H-1B sponsorship occurs close in time to layoffs involving employees in comparable positions. The new policy could lead to greater scrutiny during petition adjudications and potentially more Requests for Evidence, although how USCIS, DOL, and the Department of State will implement the directive remains to be seen. Any new adjudication standards, investigative practices, or documentary requirements will depend on agency implementation and applicable law.

Department of Labor Directed to Review Previously Filed LCAs

The order also directs the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division to begin, within 30 days of September 18, 2026, reviewing data related to previously submitted LCAs. The stated purpose of the review is to determine whether further action against particular sponsoring employers may be warranted. This means the initiative is not necessarily limited to future H-1B filings; previously filed LCAs may also become part of the government’s compliance review.

For employers, the order makes accurate and consistent H-1B compliance documentation increasingly important. Agencies may compare information in an LCA, an H-1B petition, and a visa application, and may look to an employer’s workforce history when evaluating the layoff factor. The order expressly calls for greater sharing of wage, employment, academic, industrial, and other relevant information among federal agencies.

Steps Employers Should Consider Now

The Executive Order itself leaves significant implementation questions unresolved. Employers should monitor forthcoming guidance from USCIS, DOL, and the Department of State before assuming that any particular new documentary requirement or adjudication standard applies.

Employers contemplating H-1B sponsorship while implementing layoffs, restructuring operations, or changing staffing models should evaluate the immigration implications early in the planning process. Because the Executive Order’s effect will depend in part on forthcoming agency guidance and the facts of each employer’s workforce situation, companies may wish to consult immigration counsel about upcoming filings and existing H-1B compliance obligations.