Trump Administration to Revive Merit-Based H-1B Visa Selection Process?
The Trump administration is once again exploring major changes to the H-1B visa program, focusing specifically on how applications subject to the annual cap are selected.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has submitted a proposal to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, signaling potential reforms in the near future.
Currently, the H-1B cap allows for 85,000 new visas annually — including 20,000 reserved for applicants with U.S. master’s degrees. Universities and research institutions remain exempt from this limit.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has already closed the application window for fiscal year 2026, confirming that it received enough petitions to meet the cap. As a result, there will be no lottery held for FY 2026 — a rare occurrence under the current system.
Traditionally, USCIS has used a random lottery system to allocate H-1B visas under the cap. Employers whose entries are selected then submit full petitions, with employment typically starting in October.
However, during Trump's first term, DHS proposed replacing the lottery with a wage-based selection system. The goal: prioritize higher-paying job offers to attract more highly skilled foreign talent. This approach was part of the broader “Buy American, Hire American” policy agenda.
The wage-based system was ultimately scrapped by the Biden administration in 2021, following strong public opposition. Over 1,000 public comments warned the rule would drastically reduce the number of eligible H-1B recipients.
While the lottery is intended to be fair, critics argue that larger companies often dominate by submitting significantly more applications.
In January, the Institute for Progress, a nonpartisan think tank, reignited the debate by proposing the complete elimination of the lottery. The group suggested that prioritizing visa allocation by salary or seniority could boost the economic impact of the H-1B program by up to 88%.
With the 2026 cap already met and new regulatory discussions underway, the future of the H-1B selection process remains uncertain — but change is clearly on the horizon.
