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American Hiring Transparency Act
To require employers seeking a permanent labor certification classification for the hiring of foreign workers to pay a fee of at least $10,000, and for other purposes.
Summary
- Requires employers filing an Application for Permanent Employment Certification to pay a fee of at least $10,000 starting in fiscal year 2027.
- Requires annual adjustment of the fee based on the Consumer Price Index for inflation, rounded to the nearest $10.
- Prohibits the fee from being waived or reduced under any circumstances.
- Establishes a PERM Fee Account in the Treasury to receive 50 percent of the fees collected.
- Directs 50 percent of PERM Fee Account funds to the Secretary of Labor and 50 percent to the Director of the Office of Personnel Management for USAJOBS website upgrades to facilitate labor market testing.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Sen. Scott, Rick [R-FL] (R-FL)
Actions (2)
- Jul 28, 2026 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. · senate
- Jul 28, 2026 Introduced in Senate
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 28, 2026
Mr. Scott of Florida introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
A BILL
To require employers seeking a permanent labor certification classification for the hiring of foreign workers to pay a fee of at least $10,000, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “American Hiring Transparency Act”.
SEC. 2. PERMANENT LABOR CERTIFICATION FEE.
Section 281 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1351) is amended—
(1) by striking the section header and inserting “visa fees”;
(2) by striking “The fees for” and inserting the following:
“(a) Nonimmigrant Visa Fees.—
“(1) In general.—The fees for”;
(3) by striking the semicolon after “residents” and inserting a period;
(4) by striking “Provided, That nonresident visas” and inserting the following:
“(2) Fee waivers.—Nonresident visas”; and
(5) by adding at the end the following:
“(b) Permanent Labor Certification Fee.—
“(1) In general.—In addition to any other fee authorized by law, the Secretary of Labor shall require the payment of a fee, in an amount equal to the amount specified paragraphs (2) and (3), from any employer who files an Application for Permanent Employment Certification (Form ETA 9089) or any successor form, or any substantially similar application designated by the Secretary that requires recruitment to determine the availability of able, willing, qualified, and available United States workers, at the time such application is filed.
“(2) Initial amount.—During fiscal year 2027, the amount specified in this paragraph shall be the greater of—
“(A) $10,000; or
“(B) such amount as the Secretary may establish, by rule.
“(3) Annual adjustments for inflation.—During fiscal year 2028, and during each subsequent fiscal year, the amount specified in this paragraph shall be equal to the sum of—
“(A) the amount of the fee required under this subsection for the most recently concluded fiscal year; and
“(B) the product resulting from the multiplication of the amount referred to in subparagraph (A) by the percentage (if any) by which the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for the month of July preceding the date on which such adjustment takes effect exceeds the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for the same month of the preceding calendar year, rounded to the next lowest multiple of $10.
“(4) PERM fee account.—
“(A) Establishment.—There is established in the general fund of the Treasury a separate account, which shall be known as the ‘PERM Fee Account’ (referred to in this paragraph as the ‘Account’).
“(B) Deposits.—Of the fees received under this subsection in a given fiscal year from employers filing applications for permanent employment certification—
“(i) 50 percent shall be deposited into the Account; and
“(ii) 50 percent shall be deposited into the general fund of the Treasury.
“(C) Use of account funds.—Of the fees deposited into the Account in a given fiscal year—
“(i) 50 percent shall be made available to the Secretary of Labor to expend without further appropriation; and
“(ii) 50 percent shall be made available to the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to expend without further appropriation to upgrade and maintain the capabilities of the USAJOBS website or any successor platform to host job advertisements and process job applications in order to facilitate labor market testing.
“(5) No fee waiver.—Fees required to be paid under this subsection may not be waived or reduced.”. <all>
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