(WASHINGTON, D.C.) The Department of Homeland Security said on Tuesday it will overhaul the way it hands out H-1B work visas, replacing the long-running random lottery with a weighted selection system that gives better odds to employers offering higher wages and, by DHS’s framing, higher-skilled roles. The agency said the change is meant to “better protect the wages, working conditions, and job opportunities for American workers,” and it will start with the FY 2027 H-1B cap registration season, after the rule takes effect in early 2026.

Under the H-1B cap, the United States 🇺🇸 issues 65,000 visas each year, plus an extra 20,000 set aside for people with U.S. advanced degrees. In years when registrations far exceed those caps, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has relied on a random draw to decide which employers can file full petitions. DHS said that approach has drawn criticism for years because it does not distinguish between high-wage and low-wage offers, even though the visa is often described by policymakers as a pathway for specialized talent.

DHS rationale and official statement

“The existing random selection process of H-1B registrations was exploited and abused by U.S. employers who were primarily seeking to import foreign workers at lower wages than they would pay American workers,” said Matthew Tragesser, a USCIS spokesman, in DHS’s announcement.

“The new weighted selection will better serve Congress’ intent for the H-1B program and strengthen America’s competitiveness by incentivizing American employers to petition for higher-paid, higher-skilled foreign workers.” — Matthew Tragesser, USCIS spokesman

Implementation timeline and effective dates

• The final rule is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on December 29, 2025.
• The rule will take effect 60 days after publication.
• DHS also gave a specific effective date of Feb. 27, 2026.
• The system will be in place for the FY 2027 cap registration season, which DHS said “typically opens in March 2026.”

This timeline matters because the H-1B cap season operates on a tight annual calendar, and a change in the selection method can reshape which employers get the chance to file full H-1B petitions.

How the new selection works: “4-3-2-1” weighting

At the center of the change is a new “4-3-2-1” weighting method tied to the Department of Labor’s Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) wage levels.

Instead of giving every registration one identical chance in a single pool, USCIS will run a weighted random selection where the number of entries depends on the wage level tied to the offered job.

• Level IV registrations get 4 entries
• Level III registrations get 3 entries
• Level II registrations get 2 entries
• Level I registrations get 1 entry

Table: Weighting by OEWS wage level

DHS said this structure “mathematically increases the probability of selection for petitions offering higher wages,” while still leaving a path for employers who file at lower wage levels.

Projected shifts in selection probability and economic effects

DHS projected a sharp tilt in odds:

• Probability of selection for Level I positions is expected to drop by about 48%.
• Probability of selection for Level IV positions is expected to rise by more than 106%.

DHS’s economic estimates show winners and losers:

• The rule will cause a “transfer of wages” away from Level I workers and toward higher-wage workers, estimating $858 million in wages transferred in the first year.
• DHS projected $502 million in first-year economic benefits, on the basis that selected workers are expected to be more productive and higher paid.

These are agency estimates that underscore DHS’s expectation that the rule will reshape the pay profile of selected workers.

Practical implications for employers and workers

• The wage number on an offer letter may matter more than ever at the first gate of the process.
• A software engineer offered a Level IV wage could effectively appear in the selection pool four times, while a candidate offered a Level I wage would appear once.
• DHS argues that this change discourages using H-1B slots for “low-wage, low-skill roles,” even though the H-1B program itself is built around “specialty occupation” jobs.

DHS also said the new weighted selection is intended to change employer behavior. Under the old random lottery, critics said employers could boost their overall odds by submitting large volumes of registrations, including for lower-paid roles. DHS claimed the previous method “often” allowed “unscrupulous employers” to flood the pool with lower-wage workers. The new system, the department argues, makes higher wages the most direct way to gain selection probability rather than sheer volume.

Integrity protections and enforcement

The rule includes integrity provisions to prevent gaming the system:

• A petition filed after selection must keep the same position information that was in the registration, including SOC code and wage level.
• USCIS “codified its authority” to deny or revoke a petition if it determines an employer tried to game the system (for example, registering at Level IV to win and then amending to pay less).

Those protections work alongside the existing “beneficiary-centric” model, which counts each unique worker once toward the cap even if multiple employers file registrations for that person. DHS is layering wage-based weighting on top of that principle, meaning “one person, one cap count” remains, but a single registration’s strength in the selection pool varies by wage level.

Who is likely to be affected most?

DHS estimated the rule could have a significant economic impact on about 30% of small entities that file cap-subject petitions—particularly those that cannot offer higher wage levels.

• Likely affected groups include:
  • Early-stage startups
  • Small IT services firms
  • Nonprofits that compete for specialized talent but do not always match large-company pay scales

DHS’s response embedded in the rule’s design is that lower wage levels still have “opportunity,” but the predicted drop in Level I selection probability suggests that opportunity may narrow when demand spikes.

For workers (both abroad and in the U.S. on student visas or other statuses), the announcement adds a new layer of anxiety: not only whether an employer will sponsor, but whether the wage level attached to the job is competitive enough to survive a weighted draw. The policy shift is likely to land hardest on new graduates and early-career candidates, who often start at lower wage tiers under the OEWS framework.

DHS did not name any affected H-1B applicant or U.S. worker in its release, nor did it include examples of specific employers it believes abused the old system.

Related enforcement posture and broader signals

DHS tied the rule to a broader enforcement and deterrence posture, saying it is “another” step to strengthen the integrity of the H-1B program and aligning it with the “H-1B Proclamation” and what the department called systematic abuse. The announcement pointed to Presidential Proclamation 10973, which requires employers to pay an additional $100,000 per visa as a condition of eligibility.

“As part of the Trump Administration’s commitment to H-1B reform, we will continue to demand more from both employers and aliens so as not to undercut American workers and to put America first,” — Matthew Tragesser

DHS framed the rule as a reset toward Congress’s intent while signaling that the H-1B program will remain a live policy target. The department said it will continue changing regulations as needed to address perceived abuses and protect American workers.

Practical next steps and resources

• Employers and compliance teams should prepare for a shift from a “lottery strategy” to a wage-setting strategy, paying closer attention to job coding and the OEWS level that the offer supports.
• Employers and workers looking for the government’s baseline description of the H-1B cap process can find it on USCIS’s official H-1B page at USCIS H-1B Specialty Occupations.

According to analysis by VisaVerge.com, the biggest near-term change is that many firms’ previous lottery-focused approaches may give way to strategies that emphasize wage level and compliance with registration details.

Bottom line

• The immediate next test will come as employers prepare registrations for FY 2027 under a system where “random” no longer means equal, and where wage level becomes a central factor in who gets the chance to file for one of the capped H-1B slots.
• The rule is designed to reward higher pay and make it harder for lower-wage entries to succeed, while instituting integrity controls to prevent manipulation of wage level after selection.