Congress quietly raises cost of hiring foreign workers—but unclear who pays.

What it does

This bill requires employers filing for permanent labor certification to hire foreign workers to pay a fee of at least $10,000 per application, adjusted annually for inflation. Half the collected fees fund a dedicated account to improve the USAJOBS website and labor market testing infrastructure; the other half goes to the general Treasury. The fee cannot be waived or reduced.

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is a mandatory fee on permanent labor certification applications, designed to increase the cost of hiring foreign workers and fund domestic labor market infrastructure. It is fundamentally a pricing/revenue instrument tied to immigration policy, not a broad labor or hiring reform.

What the text implies

• The fee may be passed through to visa-sponsored workers as a cost-of-hire, reducing their net compensation or making sponsorship less attractive to employers, potentially harming the workers the bill aims to protect.
• The bill does not specify how SecDOL will set fees above $10,000 or what criteria will govern annual adjustments, creating discretionary authority with limited transparency.
• USAJOBS improvements funded by the fee may not meaningfully strengthen labor market testing if employers can still satisfy recruitment requirements through low-cost, low-visibility postings.
• The 50/50 split between the dedicated account and general Treasury means only 25% of total fees directly fund USAJOBS/labor market testing; the other 75% either goes to general revenue or SecDOL discretionary spending.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The fee creates a financial barrier that may reduce employer demand for foreign labor certification, potentially protecting domestic job opportunities and wages for U.S. workers. However, the bill's actual effect depends on whether employers pass costs to workers, whether the fee is set high enough to meaningfully deter applications, and whether the USAJOBS improvements materially strengthen labor market enforcement—all uncertain from the text.

Who stands to gain

• U.S. domestic workers (potential wage/employment protection)
• Federal government (general fund revenue)
• Department of Labor (discretionary spending authority)

Named in the bill

Department of Labor (SecDOL), Office of Personnel Management (OPM), USAJOBS, Immigration and Nationality Act, Form ETA 9089, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers

Where it stands

• Jul 28, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Jul 28, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.