The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced sweeping changes to the H-1B work visa selection process, replacing the long-standing random lottery with a weighted system designed to favour higher-skilled and higher-paid foreign workers.
What is changing?
Under the new rule, DHS said the goal is to better protect American workers by discouraging the use of the H-1B programme to fill lower-wage positions that could otherwise be held by U.S. employees. The regulation will come into effect on February 27, 2026, and will apply to the FY 2027 H-1B cap registration season.
Currently, H-1B visas are allocated through a lottery when applications exceed the annual cap of 65,000 visas, with an additional 20,000 reserved for individuals holding advanced degrees from U.S. institutions.
DHS said the revised framework will introduce a wage-based weighting mechanism tied to the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) system. Applications offering wages at the highest level—Level IV—will receive the greatest advantage in the selection pool, while lower wage levels will receive progressively fewer entries. While all wage categories will remain eligible, higher-paying positions will have a significantly increased chance of selection.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesperson Matthew Tragesser said the change is intended to restore the original purpose of the H-1B programme. “The random selection process was increasingly exploited by employers seeking cheaper labour,” he said, adding that the new system would encourage companies to offer competitive wages and recruit for genuinely high-skilled roles.
Each beneficiary will be counted only once toward the annual cap, regardless of how many registrations are submitted on their behalf, DHS clarified. The weighted selection will be used only when applications exceed the number needed to meet the visa cap.
The rule follows a notice of proposed rulemaking issued in September 2025 and was finalised without changes after DHS reviewed public feedback. Officials said the regulation is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to tighten oversight of the H-1B programme, including a separate requirement that employers pay an additional $100,000 per visa as a condition of eligibility.
DHS said the updated process aims to balance the needs of U.S. businesses seeking specialised talent with safeguards to prevent abuse of the system and protect domestic workers’ wages and job opportunities.
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