EIG Letter: DOL Should Use Experience Benchmarking to Prioritize Higher-Skilled H-1B Workers

Summary

In May 2026, the Economic Innovation Group submitted comments to the Department of Labor urging it to adopt Experience Benchmarking as an alternative to its proposed prevailing wage rule for H-1B and other employment-based visas. EIG argues that Experience Benchmarking would better protect American workers, reduce wage arbitrage by outsourcing firms, retain more international graduates of U.S. universities, and more accurately prioritize high-skilled foreign talent than the Department’s default proposal. The letter also identifies methodological flaws, logical inconsistencies, and factual errors in the proposed rule’s wage-gap analysis.