USCIS Finalizes Weighted H-1B Cap Selection

The Trump administration has finalized a rule that replaces the randomized H-1B lottery with a weighted selection system that favors higher-paid roles. The rule takes effect February 27, meaning it will be in place before the upcoming spring H-1B cap season, which is widely used across knowledge-based industries.

At a high level, the annual lottery for 85,000 H-1B visas, including the 20,000 advanced-degree exemption, will be replaced with a selection process that gives registrations greater or lesser odds based on where the role falls within government wage levels. Rather than a single entry per registration, USCIS will weight selections as follows:

• Highest wage level: 4 entries in the selection pool
• Third wage level: 3 entries
• Second wage level: 2 entries
• Lowest wage level: 1 entry

In practice, this means that higher-wage roles will have meaningfully better chances of selection when demand exceeds the cap.

This change is part of a broader policy direction aimed at limiting H-1B visas for lower-paid roles. It follows other Trump administration actions, including a White House proclamation that introduced a $100,000 fee for certain H-1B workers hired from outside the U.S., a measure that is currently facing multiple legal challenges in pending litigation. USCIS has stated that the new weighted selection process is intended to better reflect congressional intent and strengthen U.S. competitiveness by incentivizing employers to sponsor “higher-paid, higher-skilled” foreign workers.

Employers will now be required to submit wage level and SOC code at the registration stage, and that information must remain consistent through the petition filing process. For in-house teams, this means the H-1B cap process will require earlier and tighter coordination across HR, compensation, recruiting, and immigration partners than in prior years.

While the final rule closely mirrors draft regulations released in September, it has drawn concern from employer groups and policy organizations. Commenters warned USCIS that wage levels reflect relative seniority within an occupation, not actual pay, and that many well-compensated H-1B workers could still fall into lower wage levels depending on how roles are classified. DHS responded that the rule is not intended to advantage or disadvantage any specific company or industry, but rather to create a standardized, wage-based selection framework.

Impact: This rule shifts the H-1B cap from a lottery to a strategy exercise. Wage levels, job design, and data accuracy now directly influence selection outcomes, making early planning and tighter alignment across HR, compensation, and immigration teams essential.