The US has announced a major change to the H-1B work visa programme, ending the long-running lottery system. Instead of random selection, visas will now be given based on a worker’s skills and salary level. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the new system will give priority to foreign professionals who are more highly skilled and earn higher wages.
The move is especially important for Indian professionals, who receive a substantial portion of H-1B visas every year. It also comes at a time when US officials are increasing oversight of employment-based visas, aiming to enforce stricter rules and prevent misuse of the system.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) spokesperson Matthew Tragesser said the old lottery system had been widely misused. He claimed some employers took advantage of it to bring in foreign workers at lower pay instead of hiring Americans.
Tragesser said the new selection method better reflects Congress’s original purpose for the H-1B programme and will push companies to seek highly qualified, well-paid professionals.
Why scrap the lottery system?
According to the DHS, the lottery-based system had been criticised for years. Officials said it allowed some employers to misuse the process by hiring lower-skilled foreign workers at cheaper wages. The department noted that this led to an overload of low-wage applications, which it said hurt job opportunities and wage growth for American workers. The new approach, officials believe, will correct these problems.
How will the new system work?
Under the updated rules, H-1B visas will be selected through a weighted process. This means applications offering higher pay and requiring advanced skills will have a better chance of being chosen.
However, the DHS clarified that employers will still be able to apply for workers at different wage levels. The key difference is that higher-skilled and better-paid roles will now be favoured. The new regulations will come into force on February 27, 2026. They will apply to the FY 2027 H-1B cap registration season.
At present, the US issues 65,000 H-1B visas each year, along with an extra 20,000 visas reserved for applicants who hold advanced degrees from US institutions. The DHS added that this change fits into a wider set of reforms under the Trump administration. These include tougher conditions and significantly higher fees linked to H-1B visa eligibility.
