Trump Overhauls H-1B Visa with Wage Priority/ Newslooks/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Morning Edition/ The Trump administration has announced the end of the H-1B visa lottery, replacing it with a system favoring higher-paid foreign workers. The Department of Homeland Security said the change aims to curb employer abuse and protect U.S. wages. The new rules take effect February 27, 2026, for the upcoming visa cycle.
H-1B Visa Policy Changes Quick Looks
- Trump ends random lottery selection for H-1B visas
- New rule prioritizes higher-paid, skilled foreign workers
- Effective starting February 27, 2026
- DHS says prior lottery system was “exploited”
- New rule aligns with Trump’s $100,000 visa fee
- Wealthy “gold card” visa remains in effect
- Amazon, Microsoft, Apple were top 2025 recipients
- Critics say low-skill jobs often get the visas
- Supporters argue H-1Bs drive innovation and growth
- Annual cap remains at 65,000 plus 20,000 for advanced degrees
Trump Overhauls H-1B Visa with Wage Priority
Deep Look
The Trump administration has finalized a major shift in the U.S. immigration system by replacing the traditional H-1B visa lottery with a new, wage-based selection process. The policy, announced Tuesday by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), aims to prioritize highly skilled and higher-paid foreign workers for U.S. work visas, ending decades of random allocation.
This regulatory overhaul is scheduled to take effect on February 27, 2026, just in time for the new cap registration season. It reflects a broader, more aggressive stance by the administration to tighten employment-based immigration standards, especially amid ongoing debates about the economic impact of foreign labor.
“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 Matthew Tragesser, spokesperson for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
The new selection model will prioritize applications offering higher salaries and requiring advanced skill sets, effectively increasing the odds of selection for more experienced, well-compensated applicants. DHS says this shift is designed to curb wage suppression and eliminate incentives for companies to fill entry-level roles with cheaper foreign labor.
The end of the lottery comes on the heels of other bold moves from the Trump administration. Earlier in 2025, President Trump signed a proclamation imposing a controversial $100,000 annual fee for each H-1B visa granted — a policy now being challenged in federal courts. Additionally, the administration introduced a separate $1 million “gold card” visa program aimed at granting U.S. citizenship to wealthy individuals as part of a broader economic growth initiative.
A DHS press release emphasized the consistency of the new rule with prior actions: “The wage-prioritized H-1B selection process aligns with other key changes the administration has made, including the Presidential Proclamation requiring a $100,000 payment per H-1B visa.”
For years, the H-1B program has been managed through a lottery system due to high demand, with large corporations often dominating approvals. In 2025, Amazon topped the list with over 10,000 H-1B visas, followed by Tata Consultancy Services, Microsoft, Apple, and Google. California hosts the largest population of H-1B workers, particularly in the tech and software industries.
While the administration argues that the changes ensure fairness and economic benefit, the move has ignited debate. Critics of the H-1B program argue that companies use it to fill junior roles at lower wages, undermining American workers. Even though current laws prohibit using the program to displace U.S. employees, critics say employers can game the system by misclassifying jobs as “low-skilled” to reduce wages.
Supporters of the program, however, say that H-1B visas are critical to industries experiencing talent shortages, particularly healthcare, engineering, and education. They argue that the visas fuel innovation and help the U.S. remain competitive in a global economy. For many employers, the H-1B program offers the only viable route to hire foreign specialists in roles that domestic candidates are not readily available to fill.
The annual cap on new H-1B visas remains unchanged: 65,000 standard visas plus an additional 20,000 for individuals who hold U.S. master’s degrees or higher.
Though the new selection system marks a significant departure from past procedures, it reflects the Trump administration’s broader immigration policy goals: to reduce legal immigration, discourage abuse, and promote an “America First” labor agenda.
In 2026, employers seeking H-1B talent will need to adjust their hiring strategies to focus on higher-wage roles, as USCIS will begin using a weighted selection mechanism that reflects the new pay-based priority framework.
Whether the changes will successfully address longstanding criticisms or create new challenges for U.S. companies remains to be seen.
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