The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Immigration Policy: What It Means for Employer-Sponsored Visas

Why this matters for HR and global mobility

In July 2025, the Department of Labor's Office of Immigration Policy was announced, a new unit signaling a significant shift in how employment-based immigration will be managed in the United States. This is not just a new name on an organizational chart. It shows that the Department of Labor (DOL) is preparing for a future where more employers depend on legal immigration pathways to fill talent gaps, especially as border enforcement tightens.

For HR leaders who sponsor workers or manage mobility programs, this is your early signal that the Department of Labor is shifting focus toward improved coordination, faster responses, and more consistent decision-making across employment-based visas.

What the Department of Labor's Office of Immigration Policy is responsible for

This new office is being set up directly inside the Office of the Secretary. Its mandate includes:

• Setting strategic priorities: Defining what the Department of Labor will emphasize for employment-based immigration.

• Coordinating across DOL divisions: Ensuring different units inside the Department of Labor apply policy consistently.

• Improving inter-agency alignment: Strengthening cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State to reduce conflicting guidance.

• Strengthening stakeholder communication: Improving the way the Department of Labor communicates with Congress and external stakeholders.

• Tracking deadlines and performance metrics: Monitoring timelines and outcomes across all immigration-related programs.

This matters because the Department of Labor has historically had multiple different units handling parts of employment-based immigration. Now, those units will have a central coordinator.

For HR leaders, that means the way you describe roles, compensation, and job duties across sponsorship filings will likely matter more than ever. The review will be more consolidated, meaning instead of different DOL divisions applying slightly different interpretations, employers can expect a single, uniform interpretation to drive how filings are assessed.

How the Department of Labor's Office of Immigration Policy Could Affect HR Compliance

This shift could affect some of the most common areas HR touches:

• Labor Condition Applications for H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3.

• Prevailing wage requests.

• Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) labor certifications (for green cards).

• Temporary worker programs like H-2A and H-2B.

Even before any formal rule changes, an internal shift like this often leads to:

• More consistent interpretation of regulations.

• Stronger review of wage levels and duties.

• Increased scrutiny on documentation and accuracy of job representations.

This is not a reason for HR to panic. It is simply a good time to ensure your job descriptions, wage information, and immigration filings are consistent. For instance, if your internal job posting describes a “Software Engineer” role requiring three years of experience, but your H-1B filing lists it as “Developer II” with two years of experience, the new review model could flag that inconsistency. The Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) duties, Labor Condition Application (LCA) wage level, and the offer letter should all reflect the same role profile. That alignment will matter more as review becomes more centralized under the Department of Labor's Office of Immigration Policy.

Practical Steps for HR Leaders

Here are the actions HR teams can take right now to prepare for higher scrutiny and more coordinated oversight from the Department of Labor:

• Audit job descriptions used in visa filings: Ensure that skill level, minimum requirements, and core duties match between job descriptions, LCAs, and PERM filings.

• Verify that LCA wage levels match actual duties: Confirm that the wage level reflects the true complexity, supervision level, and decision-making authority of the role.

• Make sure internal location tracking is accurate: This becomes critical if employees work hybrid or change worksites, since LCAs are location-specific.

• Align job description language across recruiting, offer letters, and petitions: Use a standardized role profile across recruiting materials and immigration paperwork so every document supports the same role definition.

The Department of Labor is signaling that it wants greater consistency across agencies. HR can prepare by creating that same consistency internally, aligning recruitment, compliance, and mobility processes.

How Waylit Helps HR Teams Respond to This Shift

Waylit supports HR teams by simplifying and automating the employer side of sponsorship. With Waylit, HR teams can:

• Track Labor Condition Application filings and expirations in one place.

• Align job details and wage levels across the entire sponsorship lifecycle.

• Maintain clean, audit-ready documents.

• Centralize internal requests and approvals for immigration actions.

• Monitor status changes across all sponsored employees.

This lets HR leaders focus on people, not paperwork, while staying aligned with the direction the Department of Labor’s Office of Immigration Policy is taking.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Will this change the way Labor Condition Application certifications work right now?

   Not immediately. But more central coordination could lead to more consistent enforcement and timelines.

2. Could this reduce processing times for employer sponsorship?

   It could. One of the goals of the new office is to improve operations and remove unnecessary delays.

3. Does this affect PERM green card filings?

   It might. The new Department of Labor's Office of Immigration Policy will have oversight of strategic immigration priorities, which include labor certification.

4. Will this lead to more audits?

   There is a possibility of more consistency in enforcement. This is a good time to clean up documentation.

Looking Ahead

HR leaders do not need to wait for regulations to change before they act. The Department of Labor has made its direction clear, a more coordinated and strategic approach to employment-based immigration.

The companies that adjust now will avoid reactive clean-up later.If your organization relies on visa sponsorship to hire and retain talent, this is the moment to reinforce the basics: clean job descriptions, accurate wage levels, consistent language across filings, and better internal tracking of where employees actually work. Those fundamentals will matter more as the Department of Labor's Office of Immigration Policy moves toward centralized review.