In a major development that could transform the future of skilled immigration to the United States, the Trump administration is planning to revive a controversial proposal to revamp the H-1B selection process and replace it with a salary-based selection process. The idea is to prioritise higher-paid professionals over lower-wage applicants.

Forbes report indicates that this Trump-aligned proposal is likely to become official as early as March 2026 for the FY 2027 H-1B cycle.

Here’s what that means in real terms—and how it could impact students, tech professionals, startups, and hiring managers.

What the new immigration plan proposes?

At the end of its last stint in office Trump administration had proposed to suspend the H-1B lottery when H-1B registrations exceed the annual limit of 65,000, including a 20,000 exemption for individuals with an advanced degree from a U.S. university. 

In line with Trump’s anti-immigration stand the proposal has seeped back into his current reign.

In the year 2021, DHS published the final rule, according to which applicants will be grouped by wage levels (I to IV) based on job title and location. Those in higher wage levels (Level IV, then III) will be selected first. If more people apply within a wage level than the available slots, a lottery happens within that group only.

This means, if you earn a Level IV salary (usually $130,000+), your odds of getting an H-1B just skyrocketed. But if you’re a recent graduate or early-career professional, you may be pushed to the back of the line—or out of it entirely.

The proposal is to choose only 20% of individuals at Level 2 for the 20,000 advanced degree exemption and 75% of the Level 2 registrants for the 65,000 regular cap, or about 50% combined, according to DHS data.

Key Concerns with the new proposal

The rule proposal under review by Office of Management and Budget is titled – “Weighted Selection Process for Registrants and Petitioners Seeking To File Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions.”

This means the system will give priority to ‘weighting’. It implies that USCIS will revamp the existing beneficiary-centric selection process, and, for example, but will give priority to an H-1B candidate with a salary of $200,000 per year over an applicant who earns $100,000 annually.

A major concern is the selection purposes approach that foreign nationals paid a Level 4 wage are four times more valuable to the country than people paid a Level 1 wage. 

The 2021 rule disfavours 11 occupations, including physicians, internists, paediatricians, dentists and computer and information systems managers, where individuals paid Level 1 salaries. This means it would be harder for them to obtain an H-1B petition under the rule. This despite their Level 1 salaries were higher than the median salary for Level 3 in all occupations.

Who Will Be Affected the Most?

International students may be the hardest hit as they are mostly paid at Level I or II. This could disqualify them entirely if the cap gets filled up by higher earners. A 2021 study suggests that international students were 54% more likely to secure an H-1B under the lottery system than they would be under the salary-based model.

The rule would make it difficult for physicists, microbiologists and medical scientists (among others) to obtain H-1B petitions

Researchers, teachers, and healthcare workers, many of whom earn Level I/II wages, could be shut out.

Why Employers Should Pay Attention

Focusing on salary as a proxy for “value” could leave out future innovators, especially in less lucrative fields like public education or scientific research.

What Happens Next?

After DHS publishes the new H-1B selection rule, the public will have an opportunity to submit their comments. Unless a lawsuit succeeds in blocking it, the new H-1B selection process could be in place by March 2026, before the FY 2027 H-1B cap selection, says a Forbes report.

But it is not certain if the propose rule will be identical to the one proposed in January 2021 or will be renewed by the new administration. Despite amendments to the old version the rule is expected to be a setback for international students.