I have never encountered a period in my career as an immigration lawyer when the workload was this heavy or this fast for U.S. employers. If you’re a business owner, HR person, or general counsel, and immigration compliance isn’t your top priority right now, it should be. Today.
Let me put it quite simply: immigration rules have shifted at the grassroots level. In the last 15 months, a wave of new executive orders, major rule updates, and stronger enforcement has turned what used to be a simple HR task into a serious business risk. This is not hype. This is what I deal with for my clients week after week.
In this article, I will walk you through the four biggest areas of change, explain what they actually mean for your company in simple terms, and tell you exactly what steps you should take right away. Grab a coffee, this one matters.
1. The H-1B Program Has Been Transformed — and It Will Cost You
If your business relies on any type of H-1B employee, whether they’re a software engineer, doctor, financial advisor, or architect, you’re now playing by an entirely new set of rules compared to 18 months ago. The H-1B program suffered three major blows in a row, and in combination, they represent the largest changes in decades.
A. The $100,000 Fee: The Change That Changed Everything
In September 2025, a presidential order imposed an additional $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions for those still outside the U.S. Prior to this, the government fee for filing a new H-1B application typically ranged from $2,000 to $5,000 per case. It went up 20 to 50 times that number at once.
Important detail: This fee only hits new petitions for workers coming from abroad. It does not apply to extensions, changes, or transfers for people already working in the U.S. If your current H-1B employees need renewals, the big fee does not apply to them.
A federal court decided not to stop the fee in December 2025, and it appears it will remain in place at least until September 2026, when the order is set to expire unless extended. Do not plan your hiring around the idea that this fee will disappear.
The real-world effect is clear. Before you bring in a software engineer from India, Brazil, or anywhere else overseas, you have to ask: Is this position worth paying an extra six figures just to get them here? Many companies I work with are now looking at other options, hiring in Canada or the UK, focusing on F-1 students already in the country, or changing how they find talent altogether.
B. The Lottery Is No Longer Random
For years, USCIS had been conducting a simple random draw when it received more H-1B applications than the number of visas it is allowed to approve. You didn’t have to pay $60,000 or $200,000; your odds were the same. Those days are over!
On February 27, 2026, USCIS adopted a wage-based lottery system for FY 2027 H-1B petitions that are filed in March 2026. It’s now done like this:
- Workers offered a Level 4 wage (the highest DOL tier) get four entries
- Level 3 wage offers get three entries
- Level 2 offers get two entries
- Level 1 offers (usually the lowest pay) get only one entry
The point is, if you’re looking for a good shot in the lottery, you have to pay top wages. The shift presents a significant challenge for hospitals, nonprofits, and research institutes that regularly rely on H-1B for less prestigious positions.
On top of that, companies must list the exact DOL job code and wage level when they register, and USCIS can deny petitions if they think the employer tried to cheat by listing an unrealistically high wage.
C. Site Visits: The Unannounced Inspector Is Coming
The H-1B Modernization Rule, which started in early 2025, made cooperation with USCIS site visits mandatory. The Fraud Detection and National Security team, working with the Department of Labor through Project Firewall, is now doing way more surprise visits than before. These checks can happen at:
- Your main office
- Client sites where H-1B workers are placed
- Remote work locations, including people’s homes
What do they look for? They determine whether the job they’ve been assigned daily fits the scope of the petition, whether the actual salary is the same, whether the place of work is the same, whether the system of supervision is the same, and whether the job is the same as that described in the petition. If they do not cooperate, the petition may be denied or canceled.
My recommendation is to designate one primary contact who is consistently available to handle H-1B compliance. Train your front desk, security staff, and supervisors. Keep your immigration lawyers on speed dial. Maintain complete, neat files for every sponsored worker. Inspections usually take 30 to 120 minutes; be prepared.
2. I-9 Enforcement: The Era of Zero Tolerance
Here is a number that should catch your attention right away: ICE is now conducting I-9 audits at about 10 times the rate it did in 2024. In 2024, they sent out around 230 Notices of Inspection. In 2025, that number started climbing fast, and it has kept going strong into 2026.
The whole approach has changed. In the past, ICE often focused on teaching companies, especially smaller ones that made honest mistakes. That softer style is over. They are no longer only the targets; they’re the usual targets, and they’re also companies affected by their zero-tolerance policy across every industry and every part of the country.
The Penalty Structure You Need to Understand
Fines are calculated per form, not per company. That makes a huge difference. Here is the current penalty range as of 2026:
| Violation Type | Penalty Range (Per Violation) | Notes |
| Paperwork / technical error | $288 – $2,861 per form | Missing fields, wrong dates, unsigned sections |
| Substantive I-9 violation | Up to $2,861 per form | Missing I-9, expired docs not re-verified |
| Knowingly hiring unauthorized (1st offense) | $716 – $5,724 per worker | Applies per worker, stacks on paperwork fines |
| 2nd offense – knowing hire | $5,724 – $14,306 per worker | Significantly escalated tier |
| 3rd+ offense – knowing hire | Up to $28,619 per worker | Criminal charges possible in pattern cases |
| Anti-discrimination violation | $288 – $2,861 per violation | Based on citizenship/national origin |
To be clear: If a company makes mistakes on 50 I-9 forms, they may be subject to fines ranging from $14,400 to over $143,000 just for paperwork before any knowing-hire allegations are added.
Audits are now much more focused due to the data-sharing agreement between the IRS and ICE in April 2025. ICE can now check IRS records to find companies where Social Security numbers do not match. (Note: A federal court ruled in February 2026 that the IRS broke the rules about 42,000 times with this data sharing, but companies should not assume this protects them, since enforcement continues while the court cases move forward.)
Industries Under the Microscope
Every sector faces checks, but ICE focuses extra effort on certain fields. If your company works in any of these areas, your risk is higher:
- Construction — including subcontractors and labor suppliers
- Food processing and agriculture
- Hospitality — restaurants, hotels, event spaces
- Healthcare — especially staffing companies and home care
- Manufacturing and warehousing
In 2025, the largest single-site action for ICE occurred at a battery plant construction site in Georgia. No company in any field should think they are safe from attention.
Practical tip: Give ICE three business days to receive your I-9 records if ICE issues a Notice of Inspection. Companies with clean digital systems manage this quickly. Those with messy paper files waste weeks and often pay extra fines. Start digitizing your records now.
3. Work Authorization Instability: Employees You Already Have May Be at Risk
One change that does not get talked about enough but causes real headaches involves workers you already employ, people whose right to work you thought was solid. Two recent developments need your immediate focus.
The End of Automatic EAD Extensions
A 540-day automatic extension allowed workers whose EADs were about to expire to maintain their employment while awaiting renewal. That protection has expired for most categories as of October 30th, 2025.
What this means now: employees in the affected groups, including those waiting for green cards, refugees, asylees, and others, will no longer be allowed to work the day after their EAD expires unless they have the new card in hand. Not just filed or approved actually received.
USCIS delays are creating gaps in work authorization. I am helping clients whose longtime employees have had to stop working temporarily because a timely renewal has not yet come through. This creates problems for both compliance and keeping staff.
TPS and Humanitarian Parole: Volatile Ground
TPS protections for nationals from Haiti, Venezuela, Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua have been terminated; the court blocked it, and the policy changed in 2025 and into 2026. This uncertainty is bad news for employees, as it means employers have to revalidate documents on short notice.
Furthermore, beginning on December 5, 2025, a new refugee EAD will have a validity period of 18 months, down from five years for those before. This decrease applies to refugees, asylees, and some others. Shorter periods lead to more frequent status checks, increasing the risk of work gaps if renewals are not monitored.
My advice to all clients: Implement a work authorization tracking system now. List every employee on temporary work permission, mark their expiration dates, and set reminders 90 days ahead. Do not count on employees to remind you; the price of a mistake is too high.
4. State-Level Requirements and Social Media Vetting: The Expanding Compliance Map
Federal rules are only part of the story. Two other changes are adding more layers for companies to handle.
State E-Verify Mandates Are Expanding
Ohio’s E-Verify Workforce Integrity Act started on March 19, 2026. Requires all nonresidential construction contractors (including subcontractors and labor providers) to use E-Verify for newly hired employees. In Ohio, businesses that hire illegal workers face permanent loss of their business license if they are found to be in violation. The fines are as high as $1,500 per case for simple errors and $25,000 for repeated errors.
Iowa began mandating state agencies to use E-Verify in 2025. More states are paying attention. If your business operates in multiple states, you may need distinct onboarding procedures in each state, which can be time-consuming for companies with geographically dispersed teams.
Social Media Vetting Is Now Mandatory for H-1B Applicants
Since late 2025, everyone applying for H-1B or H-4 visas must make their social media accounts public for review by the State Department. This is not a normal background check — it looks at what is openly available. But it can cause delays and extra questions, especially for visa stamping done outside the U.S.
Advice for companies with H-1B staff who travel: tell them to check their public social media before any visa-stamping trip and plan for possible delays in returning to work.
Your 2026 Immigration Action Plan: What to Do Right Now
If you have made it this far, you see how serious things are right now. Here is what I suggest to every business client, no matter their size or field:
Immediate Actions (This Month)
- Conduct an internal I-9 audit or hire outside counsel to conduct an audit. Identify and correct errors if possible, and document your best guess. This helps a lot if ICE shows up.
- Establish or amend your own work authorization spreadsheet for all non-citizen workers. Schedule reminders for 90 days prior to expiration.
- Name one person to handle ICE visits and write down a clear plan. Who answers the door? Who calls the lawyer? Who gathers the records?
- Check with H-1B workers if they are at the approved site and engaged in the approved work if you are sponsoring them. If anything is different, make an amendment as soon as possible before inspectors discover it.
Near-Term Actions (Next 90 Days)
- Review your H-1B plans for FY 2028 now. With the new wage-based lottery, check the wage levels for every role and adjust pay plans accordingly.
- Figure out your risk from the $100,000 fee. For any new overseas hires, make sure decision-makers know the real total cost.
- Work with immigration counsel for a protected compliance review of all your foreign workers. Legal privilege keeps the results private, so you can fix issues quietly.
- If you operate in states adding E-Verify rules or might expand there, update your hiring process now.
Ongoing Vigilance
- Sign up for alerts from USCIS, ICE, and DOL. New rules come out fast and can start quickly.
- Provide training for your HR, supervisors, and leaders on what to do when federal agents are at your workplace. The first few minutes make the entire visit.
- Talk to immigration counsel before letting go of any foreign national employee. Mixing termination with immigration issues can create extra legal problems.
A Final Word
I am not trying to scare you with this. I wrote it because the companies doing well right now are the ones that treat immigration compliance as a key part of running their business, not just some paperwork chore.
The positive side is that the way to stay compliant is straightforward. You do not have to guess. You need solid information, good records, trained people, and a reliable lawyer who can guide you on when and how to move.
The time of light enforcement is behind us. The time for smart, active compliance has started. Companies that understand this difference now will be in much stronger shape going forward.
This blog post is for general information only and is not legal advice. Every company’s situation is different. If you have questions about your own immigration compliance, consult a qualified immigration attorney.
