This Act reasserts Congressional authority over immigration, tightens H-1B visa requirements with stricter employer obligations and wage standards, and limits nonimmigrant status adjustments.
Chip Roy
Representative
TX-21
The American White-Collar Worker Jobs Act of 2026 reasserts Congressional authority over immigration, restricting executive power to grant employment authorization and adjust nonimmigrant statuses. The bill significantly overhauls the H-1B visa program by imposing strict new labor certification requirements on employers, strengthening wage standards, and reducing the maximum duration of H-1B status. Furthermore, it eliminates the presumption against immigrant intent for H-1B applicants and expands enforcement powers against employers who violate the new provisions.
American White-Collar Jobs Act Sets 75th Percentile Wage Floor and Slashes H-1B Visa Duration to Two Years
The American White-Collar Worker Jobs Act of 2026 is a massive overhaul of how the U.S. handles professional foreign labor. At its core, the bill shifts the power back to Congress, stripping the executive branch of its ability to hand out work permits without a specific law backing them up. If you’re a software engineer or an HR manager, the biggest change is the total transformation of the H-1B program. The bill sets a hard cap of 65,000 visas a year and pivots from a lottery system to a 'highest bidder' model, where priority goes to the foreign workers offered the biggest paychecks. It also chops the maximum stay from six years down to just two, meaning the revolving door for international talent is about to spin a lot faster.
The Paycheck Pivot
For anyone working in tech, finance, or engineering, the wage rules are the headline. Currently, companies often use a 'prevailing wage' that can be lower than what a senior local dev makes. This bill tosses that out and replaces it with a requirement to pay the higher of either the actual wage paid to similar U.S. workers or the 75th percentile wage for that specific job and city (Sec. 3). For a mid-sized firm in a city like Austin or Charlotte, this means hiring a foreign specialist just got significantly more expensive. The goal is to ensure that if a company brings in someone from overseas, they aren’t doing it to save a buck, but because they truly need that specific person's skills.
Putting Local Hires First
If you’ve ever felt like a job was posted just as a formality before a company hired a visa holder, this bill aims to stop that. Employers must now advertise the job on a Department of Labor website and prove that no qualified U.S. worker was 'able, willing, and available' (Sec. 3). It goes a step further by banning companies from hiring H-1Bs if more than 5% of their total workforce is already on a nonimmigrant visa. For a local accountant or project manager, this creates a legal shield: if you are laid off and replaced by a visa holder, the bill grants you the right to hit the company with a federal tort lawsuit for displacement.
The Two-Year Timer
One of the most disruptive changes for both businesses and foreign workers is the new 'two-year limit.' Currently, H-1B holders can often stay for six years or more while waiting for a green card. Under this bill, the clock stops at two calendar years—period (Sec. 3). This effectively ends the 'dual intent' era where someone could come on a temporary visa while planning to stay forever. Applicants now have to prove they have a foreign home they don't intend to leave. For a startup trying to build a long-term team, this could be a logistical nightmare, as they'd have to replace key staff every 24 months, potentially leading to a constant cycle of retraining and project delays.