On December 1, 2020, a U.S. Federal District Court in California
set aside the two Interim Final Rules announced in October by the
U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) and the Department of
Homeland Security (“DHS”). The DOL rule, which
took effect on October 8, 2020, significantly increased prevailing
wage levels for H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3 programs and the permanent
labor certification (PERM) program. The DHS rule was
scheduled to take effect on December 7, 2020 and would have placed
further restrictions on the H-1B program, including in particular
narrowing the definition of “specialty
occupation.” The Court Order, effective immediately,
found that the agencies did not show good cause in bypassing the
notice and comment period, required by the Administrative
Procedures Act.
