From February 27, the US will roll out a major change to how H-1B visas are allocated, replacing the long-standing random lottery system with a process that favours higher-paid foreign workers, as reported by Bloomberg.
The new rule, released by the Trump administration on Tuesday, will take effect just weeks before the annual spring H-1B lottery, a key hiring window for the tech sector and other industries that rely heavily on skilled foreign professionals.
Shift away from random selection
Until now, H-1B visas have been allocated through a random lottery when applications exceed the annual cap. Under the new framework, applications will instead be ranked based on wage levels, giving preference to higher-paid roles. This is a part of Trump administration’s agenda to ensure that H-1B visas go to what it sees as the most economically valuable workers, while limiting access for lower-paid positions.
The wage-based selection rule follows other recent immigration measures, including a presidential proclamation that introduced a $100,000 fee for certain H-1B workers hired from outside the US. That fee is currently facing multiple legal challenges. Together, these steps aim to reshape the H-1B programme by discouraging the use of visas for entry-level or lower-wage jobs.
How many H-1B visas are available?
Under US immigration law, H-1B visas are capped at 65,000 per year. An additional 20,000 visas are set aside for foreign workers who hold advanced degrees from US universities. Demand for these visas routinely exceeds supply, which is why a lottery system has been used for years.
Proposed wage-based selection system
On September 24, 2025, the US Department of Homeland Security published a proposed rule explaining how the new selection process would work.
Since March 2020, employers have used an electronic registration system where they submit basic details of prospective H-1B workers. If selected, they are allowed to file a full petition. Under the proposed rule, employers would need to include wage information at the registration stage itself. This data would then be used to prioritise candidates.
The new system would rely on the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics wage survey, which divides jobs into four wage levels, from Level I for entry-level roles to Level IV for fully competent workers.
Higher wage levels would be given more weight in the selection pool, increasing their chances of being picked, still allowing candidates at all wage levels to participate. Entry-level workers would not be barred from the process, but their odds of selection would be lower compared to higher-paid applicants.