DHS publishes Final Rule Changing H-1B Lottery Selection Process

On December 29, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security published a Final Rule amending the H-1B cap lottery into a weighted selection process. Similar to the Proposed Rule from September 2025, the Final Rule favors registrations for “higher skilled and higher paid” nonimmigrants by allocating more registrations to higher-paid workers. DHS would use the four wage levels from the Department of Labor Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey to allocate more lottery entries to registrants with higher wages. Registrants with Level I wages would receive one entry, Level II wages would receive two entries, Level III wages would receive three entries, and Level IV wages would receive four entries. 

The proposed changes will increase the amount of time needed to prepare and submit each H-1B lottery entry, as an analysis of the employer’s offered position and selection of the proper OEWS occupational code and  wage level will be required. These changes will likely also impact how companies can sponsor recent college graduates. 

See the Final Rule in the Federal Register here , and USCIS’s announcement and comments on the new process here.