On July 17, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) transmitted a proposed rule titled “Weighted Selection Process for Registrants and Petitioners Seeking To File Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions” to the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for review.
While the full text of the proposed rule has not yet been made public, it is expected to resemble a similar rule introduced during the first Trump administration. That earlier version was ultimately vacated by a federal district court and withdrawn by the Biden administration.
The new proposal is likely to implement a wage-based prioritization system for the H-1B lottery, assigning greater selection chances to higher wage levels—potentially disadvantaging early-career professionals and recent graduates.
To impact the FY2027 H-1B lottery (scheduled for March 2026), the rule must be finalized by January 2026. We will continue to monitor developments closely and provide updates as more information becomes available.
The above has been provided for educational purposes only. To see how this applies to your situation, please contact your Clark Lau LLC attorney. Also, this does not apply to those individuals who have already been counted in the H-1B lottery.