Tech hiring costs face near-$140,000 H-1B threshold

Republican lawmakers proposed on Oct. 18 raising the H-1B program’s $60,000 exemption threshold to a wage-linked level now near $140,000. Reaction pending.

The proposal targets a core labor channel for US technology employers that use the H-1B visa program to hire skilled foreign workers. The current threshold, set at $60,000, would be replaced by a formula tied to wages, according to the proposal described by officials.

Wage formula lifts exemption bar

The H-1B program allows US employers to sponsor foreign workers in specialty occupations, a category heavily used across software, engineering and other technology roles. A higher exemption threshold would raise the salary level companies must clear for certain program treatment, increasing the potential cost of hiring workers under that route.

The nearly $140,000 level is more than double the existing $60,000 cutoff. For large technology companies, the immediate effect would depend on how many sponsored employees sit below the new formula-based level; for smaller firms, the same rule could weigh more heavily if compensation budgets are narrower.

At the sector level, the bill would add another policy variable to technology workforce planning, alongside immigration processing times and domestic labor costs.

If the wage-linked approach advances, companies would have to compare higher visa-linked pay against local hiring, remote staffing and slower headcount growth.

The immediate forward call is Oct. 18 in Washington, when employers, immigration counsel and industry groups begin assessing whether the proposal has enough support to move beyond introduction.