H-1B visa registrations by major Indian IT companies Infosys, Cognizant and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) plunged in the US financial year 2027 lottery, reflecting the impact of tighter immigration rules and rising costs for employers under President Donald Trump’s administration.
According to a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, Cognizant submitted 100% fewer registrations than in the previous year, while Infosys registrations fell 91% and those from TCS declined 95%.
The report comes as the US administration has introduced changes to H-1B visa selection and fees, seeking to prioritize higher-paid workers and address what it describes as abuse of the program.
H-1B registrations fall sharply at Indian IT companies
The company-level figures show the scale of the decline. Infosys registrations dropped from 8,886 in FY2026 to 759 in FY2027, while TCS registrations fell from 5,955 to 284. Cognizant went from 3,752 registrations to zero, according to figures from the USCIS technical appendix, detailed in this analysis of the data.
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{{/usCountry}}Also read: US legal immigration falls by half under Trump as visa restrictions hit 91 countries
{{/usCountry}}The wider trend is also visible in an official Federal Register publication dated September 23, 2026. It said the largest IT staffing and outsourcing firms together reduced H-1B registrations from 24,946 to 2,055, a decline of about 92%.
These figures refer to registrations submitted for the annual H-1B cap lottery. They do not represent the total number of H-1B workers employed by these companies, nor do they mean existing visa holders have lost their status.
Higher fees and a weighted lottery reshape hiring
The FY2027 lottery was the first to use a weighted selection process designed to favor higher-skilled and higher-paid workers. The change was introduced in February 2026, according to the CRS report.
Employers have also faced the impact of a $100,000 payment introduced in September 2025 for certain new H-1B workers coming from abroad. The CRS report said that during the first eight months the payment was in effect, initial H-1B petitions for consular processing from cap-exempt employers fell 91% compared with the same period a year earlier.
The administration has also proposed further changes. In August 2026, the Department of Homeland Security proposed a separate $103,265 fee for H-1B petitions. The proposal is outlined in the Federal Register notice. This is a proposed fee, not a final rule.
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Meanwhile, the Department of Labor proposed raising prevailing-wage requirements in March 2026. The CRS report estimated that the changes could increase employer costs by approximately $1.46 billion in the first year.
What the decline means for Indian IT workers
The steep fall in registrations could signal a shift in how Indian IT companies staff US projects, with employers potentially relying more on workers already in the country, visa extensions, transfers and local hiring. Companies such as Infosys, TCS and Cognizant had cut fresh registrations amid higher costs and changes to the lottery system.
However, registration figures alone do not establish how many jobs have been lost or how many Indian professionals will ultimately work in the US. They point to a substantial reduction in fresh lottery entries by some of the largest Indian IT employers as the costs and rules surrounding overseas recruitment change.