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On April 23, 2026 the FCC published rules to encourage and facilitate the onshoring of foreign call centers.

Comments are due May 26, 2026 and reply comments are due on or before June 22, 2026.

“Specifically, the Commission proposes rules and otherwise explore ways to improve customer service communications and better protect consumers’ sensitive personal information by limiting use of foreign call centers and by improving standards applicable to a company’s remaining foreign call center operations. It also seeks comment on extending these protections to modes of customer service communications other than calls, such as emails, texts, and on-line chats, and on ideas to deter scam and other unlawful calls made to the United States from foreign countries. Finally, it explores steps we can take to financially deter unlawful foreign-originated calls, such as bond requirements. The Commission proposes to apply these requirements to providers of telecommunications services, CMRS, interconnected VoIP service, cable television service, and DBS services, or affiliates of such providers. It also proposes to apply these requirements to the use of foreign call centers for consumer communications relating to internet access service offered by any of the foregoing providers or their affiliates and seeks comment on whether it should extend some or all of the proposed rules to providers of other types of services.”

As reported previously, on March 26 the FCC adopted the  Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) and published the proposed rules on the following day.

The proposed rules are attached to the NOPR.  See Appendix A.

1. Over the past few decades, many corporations shifted their customer service and call center operations from America to a range of foreign countries. These moves not only took jobs away from communities across the country, but they also created a range of other problems as well. Today, consumers in the U.S. regularly experience frustration and poor customer service when they connect with a call center operation located abroad. There can be language, communication, and other barriers that make it difficult, if not impossible, for consumers to get a satisfactory resolution to their problem.
2. Issues with offshore call centers extend beyond consumer frustrations and language barriers. For one, there are entire sets of privacy, data protection, and national security issues that are unique to call centers located abroad, especially when dealing with sensitive payment or account information. Bad actors working inside foreign call centers have been known to illicitly access customer data or information to advance criminal endeavors. And many foreign countries do not impose the same legal protections that we have in the United States. Persons trained at foreign call centers have also been known to use that training to help them run scams targeting American consumers. Additionally, there are a whole host of call centers overseas that are being used to flood America and our citizens with illegal robocalls, including to carry out financial crimes and victimize consumers living here.
3. Therefore, the FCC is seeking comment today on a range of actions that can address the problems with foreign call centers—whether they are associated with a legitimate U.S. business or part of an international robocalling scheme. First, we are seeking comment on actions that would encourage and facilitate the onshoring of call centers. These ideas range from limiting the percentage of calls that can be connected to overseas call centers, to requiring disclosure to consumers of the extent of a provider’s use of U.S. call centers, to requiring covered providers to disclose when a particular call is being handled in a foreign call center, and empowering consumers to transfer a call to a U.S.-based customer service representative. Bringing these operations back home is not only good for American jobs, it can promote the type of secure and quality interactions that consumers and companies alike should want.
4. Second, we are seeking comment on steps the FCC can take to improve the customer service and security of communications between an American and any call center that remains abroad. These ideas include requiring workers at call centers to be proficient in American Standard English and otherwise be trained appropriately for resolving issues with U.S. customers.
5. Third, we seek specific comment on steps we can take to address illegal robocall scams that originate inside foreign call centers. For example, we seek comment on ways we can take the profit out of those operations. To that end, we seek comment on requiring the use of bonds or fees in appropriate circumstances. Throughout, we seek comment on the scope of the FCC’s legal authority. This includes identifying the types of covered businesses that the FCC could lawfully regulate through these proposed rules. Specifically, we seek comment on applying these regulations to call centers operated by communications providers regulated by the FCC, acknowledging limits on the FCC’s authority to address all potential call centers located overseas.

See:  CG Docket Nos. 26-52 CG; 17-59 CG;  02-278 CG; and  22-2