H-1B Lottery Now Favors Higher Salaries

The annual H-1B lottery registration period is rapidly approaching in March. With the new rules, it’s clear that the H-1B lottery favors higher salaries, giving employers and candidates with stronger wage offerings a meaningful advantage.

The Department of Homeland Security is amending regulations governing the H-1B work visa selection process to prioritize the allocation of visas to higher-skilled and higher-paid aliens. The new rule replaces the random lottery for selecting visa recipients with a process that gives greater weight to those with higher skills.

According to USCIS, "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 number of H-1B visas issued annually is limited to 65,000, with an additional 20,000 for U.S. advanced degree holders. The current random selection process has often been criticized for "allowing unscrupulous employers to exploit it by flooding the selection pool with lower-skilled foreign workers paid at low wages, to the detriment of the American workforce."

This final rule is effective Feb. 27, 2026, and will be in place for the FY 2027 H-1B cap registration season. It is in addition to the September 2025 Presidential Proclamation that requires employers to pay an additional $100,000 per visa as a condition of eligibility for applicants from outside the US (with limited exceptions), which was recently upheld by the Courts.

When a lottery is implemented in March, USCIS will conduct a weighted selection among the registrations for unique beneficiaries based on the highest Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) wage level that the beneficiary's proffered wage will equal or exceed, for the relevant Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code in the area(s) of intended employment.

Under this process, registrations for unique beneficiaries or petitions will be assigned to the relevant OEWS wage level and entered into the selection pool as follows:

• Registrations for unique beneficiaries or petitions assigned wage level 4 will be entered into the selection pool four times;

• Wage 3 will be entered 3x;

• Wage 2 will be entered 2x; and

• Wage 1 will be entered once.

  
  

Each unique beneficiary will only be counted once toward the numerical allocation projections, regardless of how many registrations were submitted for that beneficiary or how many times the beneficiary is entered in the selection pool. Therefore, it is crucial to select the right wage code and level before submitting a registration.

Are you preparing for the H-1B lottery or reassessing salary strategy under the new weighted selection rules? Call (949) 940-6725, or book a consultation online to speak with one of our experienced immigration attorneys.

DISCLAIMER: This post does not constitute legal advice, or make any guarantees as to a potential outcome. Consult with a qualified, licensed immigration attorney about the facts of your case before proceeding.