2025 was a turbulent year for the H-1B visa program. Calls for the termination or restructuring of the foreign work permit program grew in the US, supported by lawmakers and American workers. The Trump administration responded by bringing in two major changes to the H-1B program, both of which will apply to the H-1B cap season 2027.
The FY 2027 H-1B Cap season will be unique for two reasons: one, there’s a new selection process in place, and two, every H-1B petition will have to be filed along with a $100,000 fee.
USCIS will then run the newly adopted H-1B selection process to select unique beneficiaries based on properly submitted electronic registrations. If the foreign worker is selected as the unique beneficiary, then each registrant who registered for that beneficiary receives a registration selection notice and may file an H-1B cap-subject petition on their behalf.
New H-1B Wage-Based Rule
The new H-1B Wage-Based Rule begins February 27, 2026, and is applicable for the FY 2027 H-1B cap registration season. What this means is the H-1B lottery system will be replaced with the new Wage-Based selection process that aims to prioritise foreign workers with higher skills and higher wages.
In the H-1B cap season 2027, for H-1B jobs, there will be a four-level structure that will be determined by the worker’s experience and the demands of the position. New hires are put at Level 1, seasoned workers at Level 2, fully qualified professionals at Level 3, and specialists or senior-level professionals at Level 4.
The probability of getting an H-1B visa for freshers at Level 1 will be low compared to higher levels in the FY 2027 H-1B cap season. It is estimated that the percentage change in probability of being selected to file an H-1B cap-subject petition from the current to the new process will decrease by 48 percent for level I and will increase by 3 percent, 55 percent, and 107 percent for level II, level III, and level IV, respectively.
The probability of getting an H-1B visa for senior-level professionals at Level 4 actually increases, even though the total salary bill for US employers will also see a rise.
H-1B 100k Fee
The other big change in the FY 2027 H-1B cap season is the introduction of the $100,000 fee. The new one-time $100k fee is to be paid by every US employer before filing the petition on behalf of the selected foreign worker. The cost of an H-1B visa has shot up from under $10,000 to over $100,000 now. This new H-1B visa fee has been in place since September 21, 2025.
However, the H-1B $100K petition fee rules exempt specific workers and foreign students, allowing US employers to hire foreign staff without paying the fee.
F-1 students and existing H-1B visa holders will be exempt from the $100k fee. Also, H-1B renewals will not be impacted and employers need not pay the new $100K fee. H-1B status is valid up to 3 years and extendable up to another 3 years, for a total period of admission of 6 years in the US. However, H-1B visa holders may have to visit their home country’s consular office for renewals.
But Indian H-1B visa holders are facing another crisis. The US embassy had rescheduled visa interview appointments for those who had their slots booked for appointments from December 9. The interview appointment slots have been rescheduled for as late as September this year, leaving several H-1B visa holders stranded in the country. Meanwhile, Amazon has allowed foreign workers, unable to enter the US, to work from home till March.
In short, the H-1B FY 2027 season marks a turning point for highly talented foreign workers. A wage-based selection system and a steep $100,000 fee will favour experienced, high-paid professionals, while freshers face tougher odds, adding cost pressure for employers and uncertainty for workers amid ongoing visa processing disruptions.