Everything You Need to Know About the New H-1B Wage-Based Selection

The White House has signed off on a proposal to select H-1B visa applications by offering wages instead of the current lottery process. USCIS will soon publish the proposal for public comment. This practice could raise wages and fundamentally change how organizations hire foreign talent.

What changed—and why it matters

On August 8, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs approved the proposal.
At present, the annual cap is 85,000 visas, selected randomly.
Indians account for the majority: 71% of all approvals in FY24 (Oct 2023–Sep 2024), followed by the Chinese at 12%.
A wage-based system will favor higher wage jobs and become a market game changer, impacting both higher wages as well as entry-level hires and diversity.

H-1B wage-based selection process explained

Under the 2021 DHS final rule (now being revived), selection would rank petitions by wage level.
Example for a software engineer in San Francisco:
- Level 1: $135,699
- Level 4: $213,512

Petitions at higher levels move first in line.

USCIS previously said this change would push employers toward higher salaries and higher-skilled roles.

Process & timeline (what happens next)

USCIS will release the proposal in the Federal Register for public feedback.
Comment period: typically 30–60 days.
After reviewing comments, USCIS may publish a final rule with an implementation window. There’s no fixed date; it usually takes several months.
Nothing changes yet. A similar 2021 rule faced court blocks and was later withdrawn.

Impact at a glance

Entry-level positions: could have lower chances of selection.
Employers: may have to provide higher wages to qualify, which can affect costs and margins, especially for tech companies with hire across multiple geographies.
Diversity: a wage-first ranking could affect the diversity of hires.

Eligibility & Who Should Prepare

The target group is still considered high-skilled foreign workers.
Petitions with the higher prevailing-wage levels are more likely to get selected or picked if the rule is in effect.
Companies that are recruiting overseas should review wage bands and role levels now.

The Bottom Line

The administration looks to be resuming H-1B selection as wage wage-first policy. The H-1B selection process will also be a focus of a lengthy USCIS proposal, so make sure to watch for that, submit comments, and model different scenarios for salaries and role mix. For many Indian tech professionals and their employers, it is possible that the new U.S. H-1B rules for Indian professionals will change their strategies—even though it will not take shape until the rule itself is finalized.