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Why has US scrapped H-1B work visa lottery system? Explained
US Visa: Earlier this year, President Donald Trump announced imposing a $100,000 annual fee on new applications of H-1B work visas.
The Donald Trump-led US administration on Tuesday announced it is ending the longstanding lottery system for H-1B work visas - widely used by the US technology sector to hire skilled workers from abroad - and replace it with a process thar prioritses more skilled and higher-paid foreign manpower.
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation imposing a $100,000 annual H-1B visa fee on new applications, potentially hitting Indians the most as US technology sector depends heavily on workers from India.
The $100,000 visa fee move of Trump was on Tuesday upheld by a US federal judge. Trump has also introduced a $1 million "gold card" visa program designed to offer wealthy individuals a pathway to U.S. citizenship.
The new system is set to take effect on February 27, 2026, and will apply to the upcoming H-1B cap registration season.
Why has Trump administration scrapped H-1B visa lottery system?
The shift is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to overhaul the visa programme, which it argues favours foreigners more than American workers.
The press release on the change put out on US Citizenship and Immigration Services website reads that the regulations governing the H-1B work visa selection process are being amended to prioritise the allocation of visas to higher-skilled and higher-paid aliens “to better protect the wages, working conditions, and job opportunities for American workers.”
"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," the release quotes US Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman Matthew Tragesser.
According to a press release announcing the new rule, the change is "in line with other key changes the administration has made, such as the Presidential Proclamation that requires employers to pay an additional $100,000 per visa as a condition of eligibility."
Trump has also introduced a $1 million "gold card" visa program designed to offer wealthy individuals a pathway to U.S. citizenship.
For decades, H-1B visas have been distributed through a random lottery system. The number of H-1B visas issued annually is limited to 65,000, with an additional 20,000 for US advanced degree holders.
In the most recent cycle, multinational technology company Amazon received more approvals than any other company, with more than 10,000 visas granted, according to an Associated Press report. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) ranked second, followed by Microsoft, Apple and Google. California continues to host the largest share of H-1B workers nationwide.
Under the revised approach, the Trump administration will "implement a weighted selection process that will increase the probability that H-1B visas are allocated to higher-skilled and higher-paid" foreign workers, according to Tuesday's press release.
