Court Sets Aside DOL and DHS Interim Final Rules Impacting Prevailing Wages and H-1B Requirements
On December 1, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California set aside both the Department of Labor (DOL) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) interim final rules which had been published on October 8, 2020. This means that the rules cannot be enforced or implemented. Read the court’s order and judgement, which found that the agencies did not have just cause to promulgate the rules without notice and comment.
The DOL regulation entitled “Strengthening Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Aliens in the United States,” went into effect on October 8, 2020 and changed how prevailing wages are calculated for H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 statuses, along with prevailing wages for PERM labor certifications. The court also set aside the DHS regulations entitled “Strengthening the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Classification Program” that were set to take effect on December 8, 2020, wherein the DHS revised the definition of a specialty occupation and limited the validity period of an H-1B for third-party placement to a maximum of 1 year, among other changes.
Many organizations challenged the legality of the interim rule, and the U.S District Court, Northern District of California has found that the DOL failed to show that there was a good cause to dispense with the rational and thoughtful discourse that is provided by the APA’s notice and comment requirement. If you have any questions about how this may impact you as a UT Health San Antonio staff or faculty member, please contact international@uthscsa.edu.
For more information, please visit NAFSA.