Major change in H-1B selection

The Department of Homeland Security has announced a new and significant change in the H-1B selection process. As it says in its press release, it is amending regulations governing the H-1B work visa selection process to prioritize the allocation of visas to higher-skilled and higher-paid aliens to better protect the wages, working conditions, and job opportunities for American workers. The new rule replaces the random lottery for selecting visa recipients with a process that gives greater weight to those with higher skills.

What will replace the old process is a weighted system that "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. With these regulatory changes and others in the future, we will continue to update the H-1B program to help American businesses without allowing the abuse that was harming American workers.”

The update continues to say that 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. To address these concerns, the final rule will implement a weighted selection process that will increase the probability that H-1B visas are allocated to higher-skilled and higher-paid aliens while maintaining the opportunity for employers to secure H-1B workers at all wage levels. This final rule is effective Feb. 27, 2026, and will be in place for the FY 2027 H-1B cap registration season.

The rule is another crucial step to strengthen the integrity of the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program. It is in line with other key changes the administration has made, such as the presidential proclamation that requires employers to pay an additional $100,000 per visa as a condition of eligibility.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman Matthew Tragesser explains that 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. This new process is 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.

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Let me take this opportunity to greet each and every one of you a very blessed Christmas and hopeful new year ahead. While we all have seen the struggles of 2025, we must never lose sight of the fact that we are still blessed to come out as better individuals, kinder neighbors and stronger communities. We can only pray that 2026 will be less challenging and hold on to our faith --in ourselves and in our Maker.

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned." - Isaiah 9.

Merry Christmas everyone!