H‑1B lottery now 'weighted' by wage

The DHS final rule takes effect February 27, 2026, and USCIS opened the FY2027 H‑1B electronic registration window at noon Eastern on March 4, 2026, running through 5:00 p.m. Eastern on March 19, 2026. (uscis.gov)) Under the new selection algorithm, USCIS will assign registrations to the selection pool based on the highest OEWS (DOL Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics) wage level for the SOC code and worksite area, with Level IV entered four times, Level III three times, Level II twice, and Level I once. (uscis.gov)) DHS’s modeling yields baseline selection probabilities driven by those multipliers: roughly 61.16% for Level IV, 45.87% for Level III, 30.58% for Level II, and 15.29% for Level I under the weighted process. (alston.com)) Registrations must include the OEWS wage level, Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code, and area(s) of intended employment, and USCIS will require the subsequently filed I‑129 petition to support the same wage‑level assignment and approved LCA or risk denial or revocation if the registration and petition are inconsistent. (uscis.gov)) DHS estimated the weighted selection would raise total annual H‑1B wages by about $502,080,486 in the first year and projected transfers of roughly $858 million from lower‑paid to higher‑paid H‑1B holders in year one (with larger annual transfers projected through 2030). (govinfo.gov)) USCIS requires each registration be submitted through a USCIS online account with the registration fee paid during the March window, and employers should note that each unique beneficiary is counted once toward numerical allocations even if entered multiple times under the weighting scheme. (uscis.gov))