US Announces New Pay Rule Employers Must Follow When Employing H-1B Foreign Workers in 2026

• The US Department of Labor has set out the prevailing wage requirements employers must meet when hiring foreign nationals under programmes including the H-1B visa
• The rules, rooted in the Immigration and Nationality Act, are designed to stop foreign labour from undercutting the wages of comparable American workers
• Employers can look up applicable wage rates through the Department of Labor's online portal or submit a formal request to the National Prevailing Wage Center

The United States Department of Labor has published the prevailing wage requirements that govern how much employers must pay workers hired through employment-based visa programmes, including the widely used H-1B category.

The rules are grounded in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which prohibits the hiring of foreign nationals from adversely affecting the wages or working conditions of comparably employed American workers.

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Federal regulations translate that obligation into a concrete floor: employers must offer at least the prevailing wage for the relevant occupation in the location where the work will be carried out.

What the prevailing wage requirement covers

The prevailing wage is defined as the average pay workers in a given occupation receive in the intended area of employment.

Employers can determine the correct rate through one of two routes: submitting a formal request to the National Prevailing Wage Center (NPWC), which has accepted wage determination requests since 4 January 2010, or consulting the OFLC Wage Search tool available through the Department of Labor's online portal.

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The obligation applies across most employment-based visa categories administered by the Department of Labor, including PERM, H-2B, H-1B, H-1B1, E-3 and CW-1.

Additional protections under H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3

Employers sponsoring workers under the H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3 programmes face a stricter standard than those operating under other visa categories.

For these programmes, the employer must pay whichever figure is higher: the prevailing wage for the occupation and area, or the actual wage already being paid to workers with comparable skills and qualifications at the same establishment.

This two-tier calculation is intended to close a potential loophole whereby companies could use foreign labour not to fill genuine skills gaps but to bring down internal pay scales.

The Department of Labor makes all relevant wage data publicly accessible through its foreign labour wages page, which outlines programme requirements and provides guidance on using the available tools.

For foreign nationals in the United States on H-1B visas, particularly those from countries such as Nigeria navigating employment-based immigration pathways, the framework carries direct practical relevance. Understanding prevailing wage protections helps workers evaluate job offers against legal minimums and identify what they are entitled to receive from a sponsoring employer.

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US adds 50 countries to bond list

In a related development, YEN.com.gh reported that the US has updated its visa bond list to include 50 countries.

Now, citizens of these countries are required to pay a financial bond of up to $20,000 before travelling to the US. The list was last revised on 2 October 2026.

Source: YEN.com.gh