Three major Indian technology companies sharply curtailed H-1B lottery entries for FY2027, including one that filed none, according to a Congressional Research Service report published October 14. The report found the steepest pullback among companies that had previously submitted large numbers of candidates.
The declines arrived as the federal government changed the selection system and introduced or proposed new costs for employers. But the report does not establish that the policy crackdown alone caused the companies’ decisions.
Eligible registrations across the FY2027 lottery fell 38.5% from the previous year, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data. That broader drop accompanied the individual companies’ cuts.
The report, titled H-1B Executive Actions in 2026, records the changes but does not explain why each company reduced its entries. The figures track registrations, not the number of workers ultimately hired.
The three companies sharply reduced entries
| Company | FY2027 registration change |
|---|---|
| Infosys | Down 91% |
| TCS | Down 95% |
| Cognizant | Zero registrations, a 100% decline |
The new selection system favors higher wages and skill
The Department of Homeland Security replaced random selection with a weighted system in February 2026. The process favors higher-skilled and higher-paid workers. It first applied to the lottery for jobs beginning in October 2026.
USCIS said the rule “prioritizes allocating visas to higher-skilled and higher-paid aliens to better protect the wages, working conditions, and job opportunities of American workers.” The regular annual cap remains 65,000, with another 20,000 places for workers holding a master's degree or higher from a U.S. university. Some employers are exempt from those caps.
Employers also faced a separate charge for certain workers coming from abroad. In September 2025, the administration introduced a $100,000 fee for employers petitioning for those new H-1B workers. President Donald Trump issued the proclamation Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers on September 19, 2025.
USCIS warned that petitioners selected in the lottery “may need to pay an additional $100,000 fee before filing the H-1B petition as a condition of eligibility.” The CRS report described that charge as temporarily blocked amid ongoing litigation.
A different charge remains a proposal. In August 2026, DHS proposed a $103,265 fee for each H-1B petition subject to the annual cap. The Labor Department separately proposed raising prevailing-wage benchmarks at all four skill levels, from entry-level positions to the most experienced jobs. It estimated the wage proposal could add about $1.46 billion in employer costs during its first year.
Fees and enforcement add pressure beyond the lottery
The administration expanded a $4,000 biometric fee in August to cover some H-1B workers extending their status. It applies at employers with more than 50 U.S. employees when more than half hold H-1B or L-1 status. Previously, the fee covered only new workers or workers changing employers.
The Labor Department announced an investigation in July 2026 into suspected fraud, human trafficking and coercive wage kickbacks in the H-1B program. The inquiry builds on Project Firewall, launched in 2025. Allegations are the subject of the investigation, not findings stated in the report.
Workers also lost two forms of protection described in the report. In September, the administration ended the grace period that had allowed H-1B workers to remain in the United States for up to 60 days after their employment ended. It also ended automatic extensions of work authorization for H-1B workers’ spouses.
The effects extend beyond employers subject to the annual cap. Initial petitions from cap-exempt employers fell 91% between September 21, 2025, and May 24, 2026, compared with the same period a year earlier, according to Department of Homeland Security data cited by CRS.
Indian firms have already shifted more hiring locally
The registration declines sit alongside a longer-running change in approvals. Across FY26, six Indian software exporters filed for 1,763 visas against 21,919 combined registrations.
New H-1B approvals for five major Indian technology firms fell 84%, from 15,919 in FY2015 to 2,486 in FY2025. Their share of initial-employment approvals dropped from 14% to 2.2% over that period. By comparison, approvals for Amazon, Microsoft and Google increased from 2,860 to 7,060.
Nasscom has said Indian technology companies have already reduced their reliance on H-1B visas and expanded local hiring in the United States. It also said Indian firms operate in more than 80 countries.
The FY2027 registration window ran from noon Eastern on March 4 through noon Eastern on March 19, 2026. USCIS set a $215 fee for each registration and intended to send selection notifications by March 31, 2026. The agency had opened FY2026 registrations on February 5, 2025.
