MU will be hosting a FREE webinar on Tuesday, January 13th at 2PM Eastern for our friends and clients. Please join us!
Join us for this FREE webinar to learn more about:
- H-1B $100k Payment Litigation Updates
- H-1B Cap Weighted Lottery
Thursday, January 8, 2026
WEBINAR: H-1B Visa Updates
Tuesday, January 6, 2026
DHS Issues Final Rule for Weighted Selection of the Highest Wages in H-1B Cap
On December 29, 2025, DHS published a Final Rule in the Federal Register, amending the way in which USCIS will select candidates in the H-1B Cap Lottery.
Instead of the existing random lottery system, USCIS will implement a weighted selection process that prioritizes allocating H-1B visas to higher-skilled and higher-paid workers according to their Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) wage levels.
Each worker’s OEWS wage level, which ranges from Levels I to IV, will determine how many registration entries that candidate will receive. Higher wage levels receive more entries—four for Level IV, three for Level III, two for Level II, and one for Level I—resulting in higher-paid positions having greater odds of selection while still allowing all wage levels to participate.
Although DHS received nearly 17,000 public comments on its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR), issued back in September 2025, DHS published this Final Rule without any modifications. DHS notes that some commenters suggested that DHS should consider an exemption for healthcare occupations, especially in rural or shortage areas. However, DHS declined to carve out exemptions for certain industries or give additional weight for registrations in “critical sectors.”
The Final Rule is effective February 27, 2026, and will be in place for the H-1B Cap Registration Season for the 2027 Fiscal Year.
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