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U.S. to end H-1B visa lottery from Feb. 27
The number of H-1B visas issued annually is limited to 65,000, with an additional 20,000 for US advanced degree holders.
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Ishani Duttagupta - Tue, 23, Dec 2025
- 11:31 EST
- 74
Visa / google
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will overhaul the H-1B visa selection process beginning February 27, 2026, replacing the random lottery with a merit-based system that prioritizes higher-skilled and higher-paid applicants, USCIS announced Dec. 23.
“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 USCIS spokesman Matthew Tragesser.
Also Read: FIIDS urges Trump administration to ease H-1B visa delays
“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. 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.,” he added.
According to USCIS, the current random selection process has drawn criticism 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,” the agency said.
For several years, Indians have formed the largest group of H-1B visa holders in the United States, accounting for around 70 percent of all approvals. Major American and Indian technology companies including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, TCS and Infosys file thousands of petitions every year to sponsor H-1B workers. The new rule is likely to have a significant impact on Indian professionals.
The number of H-1B visas issued annually is limited to 65,000, with an additional 20,000 for US advanced degree holders.
The announcement on the weighted selection process comes in the wake of two other major policy changes for H visa holders, announced in 2025. First, the $100,000 fee that employers need to pay for new H-1B petitions, introduced through an executive order, and recently the announcement of rigorous social media vetting by consular officers for all H-1B and H-4 applicants.
The new rule is another crucial step to strengthen the integrity of the H-1B non-immigrant visa program, according to the USCIS announcement. The public unpublished document on the weighted selection process for registrants and petitioners seeking to file cap-subject H-1B petitions which is up on the US Federal Register is scheduled to be published on December 29 by the Homeland Security Department.
“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,” said Tragesser.
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