New Department of Homeland Security / Department of Labor Rule Concerning H-1B and Prevailing Wage
Wednesday, October, 7th, 2020 Archived / Inactive Employees H-1B Employees
Dear Department Heads and Hiring Managers:
On October 6, 2020 the Department of Homeland Security announced an interim final rule announcing changes to the H-1B temporary worker visa program. In addition, the Department of Labor will publish an interim final rule affecting prevailing wage requirements used for H-1B and other immigration petitions, including permanent residence.
The Department of Homeland Security's interim final rule goes into effect 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register on October 8, while the Department of Labor's National Prevailing Wage Center (NWPC) will start issuing prevailing wage determinations based on the new rule on October 13. Because these new rules are not retroactive, employees already in H-1B status or with H-1B petitions that are currently pending with USCIS should not be impacted.
Based on the International Center's preliminary analysis, the changes to the H-1B visa category is not expected to significantly alter the eligibility criteria affecting the University's H-1B sponsorship of faculty and researchers. Once the rule has been more fully examined, please look forward to additional communications from your International Center H-1B specialist. We will continue to examine the impact of any changes to prevailing wage requirements on a case-by-case basis and communicate with departments and hiring units once the details of the Department of Labor's rule are analyzed.
If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact the International Center's H-1B specialists for further information.
Ghenwa Hakim, Associate Director (Ghenwa.Hakim@tufts.edu)
Boston Health Sciences Campus / Central Administration Units
Sarah Curry, Senior Immigration Specialist (Sarah.Curry@tufts.edu)
Medford (AS&E), Fletcher, and Cummings