According to a top US immigration attorney’s recent social media update, the Department of Homeland Security, and US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) seem to be moving ahead with their plans to replace the H-1B visa lottery program.
Emily Neumann, Managing Partner at Texas-based immigration law firm Reddy Neumann Brown PC, took to her profile on X to share the word on the potential H-1B policy revision. Early on in July itself, the firm pushed out a release detailing how the “Proposed H‑1B Rule Would Replace Lottery with Wage-Based Selection” on its website.
Accordingly, the proposal (RIN 1615-AD01) under the Trump administration would change the way the ‘specialty occupations’ visa was awarded to highly skilled workers from foreign countries. The plan sought to change how US companies hire foreign talent by giving priority to higher-paying jobs.
US Immigration attorney offers insights on H-1B visa lottery shake-up
Sharing an image supposedly detailing the status of a previous DHS proposal, she wrote, “DHS is moving ahead with a regulation to change the way the H-1B lottery selection works.”
Neumann further noted that the final regulation surrounding the proposal had been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review before publishing. The move suggested that if the proposal is not blocked from moving forward, changes to the H-1B lottery system could set in place for the next lottery.
DHS is moving ahead with a regulation to change the way the H-1B lottery selection works. Instead of purely random selection, a weighted selection process based on the wage level that the employer has offered for the position would be used. The final regulation has been submitted… pic.twitter.com/ThgTk1nZDp
— Emily Neumann (@immigrationgirl) December 21, 2025
What would wage-based H-1B selection imply?
Currently, the H-1B visa plan meets an 85,000 per year cap. In case of more registrations as opposed to available visas, a random lotters system picks which H-1B applications can go forward. This process views all registrations equally, regardless of whether the job opportunity may be coming from a small startup offering modest salaries or a large company giving out high wages.
DHS’ new proposal, on the other hand, would push US employers to give out information about their pay level for each worker they seek to sponsor through the H-1B visa program. In light of the government’s four salary level classification, the visa program would then primarily prefer those offering Level IV (experienced) salaries. Depending on the availability of remaining visa issuance, the rest would then be offered up to Level II paying jobs, and so on.
Immigration experts from Reddy Neumann Brown PC had previously also explained that in case of there being more applicants in a particular level, a lottery within that specific wage level would take place.
In simple words, while all employers have equal chances in the current H-1B regime, the new proposal (if passed) would leave companies offering higher salaries to foreign talent with better chances. Consequently, the potential impact on workers would see highly paid and experienced workers being given priority, while entry-level positions may rarely be chosen/
