(INDIA) — The Trump administration replaced the random H-1B lottery with a weighted selection system and imposed a $100,000 supplemental payment on new petitions, moves that coincide with a surge of U.S.-based tech professionals relocating to India and what industry analysts call a “reverse brain drain.”
The Department of Homeland Security finalized the selection change on December 23, 2025, prioritizing higher-paid and higher-skilled applicants, while a proclamation titled “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers” introduced the new fee barrier effective September 21, 2025.
LinkedIn data showed a 40% increase in tech professionals moving from the U.S. to India in the third quarter of 2025, as major U.S. technology companies expanded hiring in India and employers adjusted to rising costs and tighter selection criteria for U.S. work visas.
Matthew Tragesser, USCIS Spokesman, framed the shift as a response to abuse of the prior system.
“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. 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.”
The new approach marks a sharp change in how DHS and USCIS administer the H-1B program after President Trump’s second-term immigration reforms, with policy changes raising both the financial and strategic stakes for employers and applicants.
A USCIS posting on September 21, 2025 described the new $100,000 supplemental payment requirement for any new H-1B petition as a measure to “curb abuses and protect American workers.”
Alongside the H-1B moves, the State Department announced on January 14, 2026 an indefinite pause on issuing immigrant visas for nationals of 75 countries to assess “public charge” risks, with India not on the list and neighbors such as Pakistan and Bangladesh included.
USCIS also emphasized tougher scrutiny in a January 14, 2026 statement.
“USCIS is committed to rooting out fraud by thoroughly screening and vetting all aliens seeking immigration benefits. Anyone submitting fake evidence or misrepresenting themselves will be found out and face the consequences.”
USCIS reported a sharp change in demand indicators for the next cap season, with eligible unique beneficiaries for the FY 2026 H-1B cap falling to approximately 339,000 from 442,000 in FY 2025.
For Indian IT services firms that long relied on rotating staff through the U.S. on H-1B visas, the shift coincided with a steep drop in approvals. Approvals for the top seven Indian IT service firms fell to just 4,573 in FY 2025, a 70% decline from 2015 levels.
Major U.S. technology companies, including Meta, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, and Netflix, added more than 32,000 jobs in India in 2025, an 18% year-on-year increase in headcount, reflecting a hiring surge as employers expanded Indian operations.
The combined effect of a weighted selection process and the $100,000 supplemental payment has made new H-1B sponsorship harder to justify for many middle-market and mid-tier employers, industry analysts said, pushing some hiring and growth plans toward India rather than the U.S.
That shift has also aligned with the expansion of Global Capability Centers (GCCs) in India, which companies use to access high-end talent in AI, machine learning, and cybersecurity without the overhead and uncertainty of U.S. visa sponsorship.
In India’s major tech hubs, including Bengaluru and Hyderabad, the pull has strengthened for engineers who might previously have aimed for Silicon Valley, as more candidates weigh higher costs and more restrictive selection odds against the prospect of building careers and startups at home.
The policy changes also land against a backdrop of prolonged immigration timelines that have added uncertainty for those who still seek U.S. opportunities, with interview dates for some categories extending into 2027.
Employers tracking the H-1B pipeline now face a system that prizes higher compensation and skill level within a formal weighted selection structure, while also absorbing a fee that dramatically increases the upfront cost of filing a new petition.
DHS documented the H-1B selection change in its final rule materials, available through DHS changes to H-1B selection process, formalizing the end of a purely random draw.
USCIS also maintains its H-1B Newsroom and publishes employer-focused data through its H-1B Employer Data Hub, which companies and analysts use to track patterns in filings and approvals.
For applicants and employers looking beyond temporary work visas to permanent residence, the State Department’s visa bulletins remain a key reference point in planning and expectation-setting, even as the January 14, 2026 pause affects nationals of 75 countries.
While India is not included in that specific State Department list, the inclusion of neighboring Pakistan and Bangladesh adds another layer of uncertainty for regional mobility, family planning, and company staffing strategies that stretch across South Asia.
The administration’s fraud and vetting message has also factored into decisions by candidates considering whether to stay in the U.S. through prolonged processing timelines or return to India for roles that offer faster onboarding and clearer long-term trajectories.
Those pressures have fed the reverse brain drain narrative, as more U.S.-trained and U.S.-based professionals take roles in India’s growing tech ecosystem, including within GCCs that increasingly operate as advanced engineering centers rather than back-office support.
LinkedIn’s 40% increase figure for U.S.-to-India relocations in the third quarter of 2025 has become a widely cited measure of the movement, capturing a moment when U.S. immigration pathways grew more expensive and more explicitly tied to pay.
The hiring surge by major U.S. tech companies in India, adding more than 32,000 jobs in India in 2025, also points to a corporate response that does not depend on navigating the costs and constraints of new U.S. H-1B petitions.
At the same time, the collapse in approvals for the top seven Indian IT service firms to 4,573 in FY 2025 underscores how much the traditional IT services model depended on U.S. work authorization flows that have now tightened sharply.
USCIS’s registration figures for FY 2026, with approximately 339,000 eligible unique beneficiaries compared with 442,000 in FY 2025, indicate a drop in the number of candidates positioned for the cap process at a time of policy upheaval.
For policy watchers, the changes offer a window into how the administration has reframed H-1B selection: prioritizing higher-paid roles, imposing a large supplemental payment on new petitions, and pairing those measures with an aggressive message on screening and enforcement.
For employers, the practical impact includes a reevaluation of which roles justify sponsorship, whether compensation levels meet the new selection incentives, and whether building or expanding India-based teams through GCCs offers a more predictable route to growth.
Job seekers face a different set of choices, balancing U.S. aspirations against rising financial barriers and a selection process that explicitly favors higher-paid and higher-skilled applicants, while India’s market absorbs more returnees and offers expanding opportunities within global companies’ Indian footprints.
With interview dates for some categories extending into 2027 and a wider enforcement posture emphasized by USCIS, the calculus has shifted for many candidates who once treated an H-1B as the default path to U.S. tech careers.
For now, the policy moves, USCIS data, and the relocation and hiring trends point in the same direction: as the U.S. makes H-1B access more expensive and more weighted toward higher pay, India gains a larger share of globally mobile tech talent and the work that follows it.
U.S. H-1B Rule Change Drives Reverse Brain Drain as Uscis Shifts
Recent U.S. policy changes have replaced the random H-1B lottery with a weighted system favoring high-skill, high-pay roles while introducing a $100,000 supplemental fee. This has led to a 70% decline in approvals for top Indian IT firms and a 40% increase in professionals moving back to India. Consequently, major U.S. tech companies are shifting operations to India’s growing tech hubs and Global Capability Centers.
