Republican Senator Tim Sheehy of Montana introduced the End H-1B Visa Abuse Act of 2026 on 23 July, calling it a bid to return the programme to its original purpose of filling roles that American workers cannot fill.
The centrepiece of the legislation is a three-year freeze on new H-1B visa approvals. Once the pause ends, the annual cap would be cut from 65,000 to 25,000, and a wage-based selection system would replace the existing lottery.
The bill also tries to put the $100,000 per-petition fee on firmer legal ground. President Trump introduced that fee by executive proclamation in September 2025. On 8 June 2026, a federal district court struck it down, ruling it an unlawful tax that Congress never authorised. The administration moved to stay that ruling while it appeals, but on 24 July, the First Circuit Court of Appeals refused. The three-judge panel said the administration had failed to show it was likely to win on appeal. By writing the fee into statute, Sheehy's bill would sidestep that legal problem entirely — if it passes.
Beyond the freeze and the fee, the legislation would set a minimum salary of $200,000 for H-1B workers, end the "dual intent" provision that allows visa holders to pursue permanent residency, prohibit staffing agencies from sponsoring H-1B workers or placing them with third-party employers, and ban concurrent employment. Dependants of H-class visa holders would also be barred from accompanying them to the US.
The staffing-agency ban and salary floor carry particular weight for Indian IT services firms. Companies such as Tata Consultancy Services, the second-largest employer of newly approved H-1B workers in the US in fiscal year 2025, have long relied on placing engineers at client sites — the exact model the bill targets. Nasscom, which represents India's $283 billion IT and business process outsourcing industry, has previously warned that such measures would disrupt ongoing onshore projects and force significant cost adjustments.
Sheehy's office argued that the H-1B programme now functions as a large-scale labour substitution pipeline, and that concentrating foreign contract workers in artificial intelligence and defence-related sectors creates national security risks. The bill has drawn support from the Immigration Accountability Project and the Federation for American Immigration Reform, and has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Parallel House legislation with similar provisions was introduced in April 2026 by Representative Eli Crane of Arizona.
What are the odds this bill passes?
Low. GovTrack puts the House version's chances at 3% of clearing committee and 1% of being enacted. The Senate bill has been referred to the Judiciary Committee, where most legislation stalls. The 119th Congress ends in January 2027 — any bill that doesn't pass both chambers and get signed before then dies and would have to be reintroduced. There is no set timeline; committee chairs control what gets a hearing.
So should H-1B workers and employers worry?
Not about this specific bill becoming law as written — but the direction of travel matters. Multiple bills with overlapping provisions are now moving through Congress, and individual measures like wage-based selection and a higher salary floor have broader support than a full three-year freeze does. The more immediate risk is the $100,000 fee: the First Circuit appeal is live, and if Congress acts before it is resolved, the fee could return through statute rather than executive action.
Sources: Reuters, GovTrack, Congress.gov, Business Standard, Crane.house.gov
