Public Comments

Status: Original and derived artifacts are available for this document.

Download: pdf

From:
To:
Cc:
Subject:
Date:

Nowlan, Michael P.
ETA, OFLC Forms - ETA
Nowlan, Michael P.
Public comment to OMB control number 1205-0508
Tuesday, May 26, 2026 12:55:56 PM

You don't often get email from [email protected]. Learn why this is important

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the Department of Labor. Do
not click (select) links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender
and know the content is safe. Report suspicious emails through the "Report"
button on your email toolbar.
OMB control number 1205-0508
Improving Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of
Certain Foreign Nationals in the United States
Please see below for my comments on the proposed rule:
The proposed regulation does not explain by what dollar amount the H-1B
program is alleged to have reduced U.S. worker pay.
Failure to explain the costs to U.S. worker salaries, from the H-1B
program, prevents the arbitrary use of the wage level increases to 34th,
52nd, 70th, and 88th percentiles for the four wage levels.
Without explaining the wage costs to U.S. workers this proposed change
is arbitrary and capricious.
The proposed regulation will make hiring H-1B workers too expensive.
U.S. employers cannot simply pay and H-1B worker an extra $20,000
more per year.
The proposed regulation does not account for the down stream impact to U.S.
universities and the further reduction of foreign national students.
U.S. universities currently enroll approximately 1.6 million F-1 and J-1
students. SEVIS - https://www.ice.gov/doclib/sevis/btn/25_0605_2024sevis-btn.pdf
The University of Iowa estimates that F-1 and J-1 students pay between
$20,000 and $60,000 in out of state tuition per year.
https://admissions.uiowa.edu/finances/estimated-costs-internationalstudents
If F-1 and J-1 students cannot secure an H-1B visa after graduation,
because the H-1B wages are too high for U.S. employers to sponsor them,
then many students will not come to the U.S.
A drop of 20% in F-1 and J-1 students would conservatively cost U.S.

universities $6,400,000,000 in lost out-of-state tuition (1.6 M x .2 =
320,000 x $20,000).
The rule does nothing to assess the costs on U.S. universities and U.S.
economy for the loss of F-1 and J-1 students if the H-1B visa is
unobtainable because employers cannot afford to hire most recent
graduates on an H-1B.
Offshoring will increase.
Offshoring is defined by Wikipedia as “the relocation of business processes
(like manufacturing or customer support) to another country, usually to
lower labor costs or access specialized skills.”
If U.S. employers cannot pay for H-1B workers in the U.S., they will
offshore their work to low-cost countries.
The proposed rule does not assess the cost to the U.S. economy and GDP
if more employers have to offshore more work from outside the U.S.
Thank you.
Michael P. Nowlan (he/him)
Attorney at Law
Clark Hill
500 Woodward Ave., Ste 3500, Detroit, MI 48226
+1 313.965.8666 (office) | +1 313.309.6866 (fax)
[email protected] | www.clarkhill.com
Clark Hill has achieved Mansfield Rule 6.0 Plus Certification in recognition of the firm’s commitment to
diversity, equity and inclusion. Learn more here.
**All non-US citizens living in the US are required by law to provide their new address to the US Citizenship
and Immigration Services within 10 days of any address change by using form AR-11. This can be done
online at the USCIS website.**