Updated November 11, 2026

H-1B visa weighted selection: how the wage-based lottery works, selection odds, and filing rules

Starting with the FY 2027 cap season, the Department of Homeland Security replaced the purely random H-1B lottery with a weighted selection process that took effect on February 27, 2026 (90 FR 60864). Under USCIS rules, your employer enters you into the selection pool between 1 and 4 times depending on the highest Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) wage level your offered pay equals or exceeds. Even with multiple entries, you count only once toward the 65,000 regular cap and 20,000 master's cap.

How does the H-1B weighted selection process work?

On December 29, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security published the final rule establishing the weighted selection process at 90 FR 60864, with an effective date of February 27, 2026. Rather than ranking registrations in strict descending order from highest to lowest pay, USCIS assigns a weight to each unique beneficiary in the lottery pool while keeping cap eligibility open across all four wage tiers.

When USCIS receives more electronic registrations than needed to meet the annual limits, it runs a weighted draw. The number of times you enter the selection pool depends on the highest Department of Labor OEWS wage level that your offered wage equals or exceeds. This calculation uses the relevant Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code in your area of intended employment.

The process remains beneficiary-centric, a framework DHS first introduced in February 2024. Even if you receive up to 4 entries in the pool, you count only once toward the numerical cap.

If multiple unrelated employers submit registrations for you, USCIS assigns your lottery weight based on the lowest wage level among all those registrations. This prevents employers from coordinating to artificially boost selection chances.

OEWS wage level pool multipliers and DHS projected selection probabilities (from federalregister.gov, 90 FR 60864, and uscis.gov)

How does your offered salary determine your OEWS wage level?

A common misunderstanding is that your registration weight is locked to the entry-level duties in your job description. In the December 2025 final rule, DHS clarifies that the weighting process is based on your equivalent wage level. That means USCIS looks at the highest OEWS wage level that your offered salary equals or exceeds.

This distinction matters if you are a recent international graduate on F-1 Optional Practical Training (OPT) or an early-career professional. Your job duties might classify as Wage Level I on the Labor Condition Application (LCA) because the position requires no experience. Even so, your employer can register you at a higher equivalent wage tier if your offered salary meets or beats the OEWS threshold for Level II, III, or IV for your occupation and work location.

USCIS enforces strict rules when an offer involves salary ranges, multiple worksites, or non-OEWS wage sources:

• Standard single-site offer: Your employer selects the highest OEWS wage level that your offered wage equals or exceeds for the 6-digit SOC code in your county of employment.
• Salary offered as a range: If your offer lists a pay range, your employer must select the wage level that the lowest figure in that range equals or exceeds.
• Multiple work locations: If you will work in multiple locations, your employer must select the lowest corresponding wage tier that your pay equals or exceeds across all those sites.
• Alternative prevailing wage sources below Level I: If your offered wage falls below OEWS Wage Level I because your employer uses an independent authoritative source, your employer must select Wage Level I.
• No OEWS wage data available: If current OEWS data is missing from the Department of Labor wage search tool for your role, your employer determines the wage level from position duties using government prevailing wage guidance.

Worked examples: determining the registration weight for complex offers

Below are three worked examples created by our team to illustrate how USCIS registration rules apply to real-world job offers. The companies and candidates in these scenarios are invented.

• Scenario 1 (Recent master's graduate with a high base salary): An employer hires an F-1 STEM OPT graduate for a junior software developer role requiring zero years of prior experience. While the job duties correspond to Level I on an LCA, the employer offers a base salary that exceeds the OEWS Level III threshold for that SOC code and county. Because USCIS weights registrations by the highest OEWS level the proffered wage equals or exceeds, the employer selects Wage Level III, giving the candidate 3 entries in the selection pool.
• Scenario 2 (Hybrid or multi-site assignment): An engineering firm assigns a civil engineer to split time between an office in a high-cost metropolitan area and a project site in a lower-cost county. In the lower-cost county, the offered salary meets the OEWS Level III threshold, but in the high-cost metro area, that same salary only meets the OEWS Level II threshold. Under USCIS rules for multiple work locations, the employer must select the lowest corresponding tier across the locations, which is Wage Level II (2 entries).
• Scenario 3 (Offer letter with a pay band): A healthcare employer issues an offer listing a base compensation range from a starting minimum up to a higher performance cap. The bottom of the pay band falls into OEWS Wage Level I, while the top of the band reaches Wage Level II. Because the offer is expressed as a range, the employer must register using the lowest wage in the range, placing the registration at Wage Level I (1 entry).

What is required during the H-1B electronic registration period?

To submit registrations, your employer must create a USCIS organizational online account. All online submissions record filing timestamps in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

Employers using the USCIS bulk upload template can submit data for up to 2,500 workers at once. Along with basic company details, every registration requires specific worker and position information:

• Your full legal name, sex, date of birth, country of birth, and country of citizenship.
• Whether you hold, or will earn before filing Form I-129, a master's or higher degree from a qualifying U.S. college or university.
• Your valid, unexpired passport number, country of issuance, and expiration date. Entering invalid placeholders such as NA or 00000 causes USCIS to reject the registration.
• The selected OEWS Wage Level (Level I, II, III, or IV), the 6-digit SOC code, and the city, state, and county of employment.
• A signed attestation under penalty of perjury certifying that all details are true, that the registration reflects a bona fide job offer, and that your employer has not colluded with any other entity to inflate selection chances.

How does the regular cap interact with the 20,000 master's cap?

Congress limits initial H-1B visas to 65,000 under the regular cap each fiscal year. Up to 6,800 of those spots are set aside for the H-1B1 program for Chile and Singapore. An additional 20,000 petitions are set aside for beneficiaries holding a qualifying U.S. advanced degree.

The weighted selection process applies to both pools. USCIS conducts the regular cap draw first. It pools all properly submitted registrations, including candidates who hold advanced degrees, and enters each person between 1 and 4 times based on their wage tier. After that, USCIS runs a second weighted draw for the 20,000 master's cap using the remaining unselected advanced degree holders.

If you are selected under the master's cap based on your expected graduation, you must hold the qualifying degree by the day your employer files Form I-129. If you do not have the degree by that date, USCIS will reject or deny the petition.

Cap-exempt employers do not go through the weighted lottery. These include U.S. colleges and universities, affiliated nonprofit entities, and nonprofit or government research organizations. In addition, employers hiring H-1B workers in Guam or the CNMI before December 31, 2029, are exempt from the annual cap.

How to keep Form I-129, the LCA, and your registration consistent

Winning the weighted lottery only gives your employer permission to file Form I-129 during the designated 90-day window shown on the selection notice. The petition must request a start date of October 1 or later of the applicable fiscal year, and no more than 6 months after the filing date.

Under the weighted rules, USCIS confirms that your Form I-129 and certified LCA match the job and wage details locked in during registration. Your employer should follow this five-step checklist when preparing the filing package:

• Include date-of-registration wage proof: Your employer must submit initial evidence proving the basis of the wage level selected on the registration as of the exact date of submission. This includes saving a printout from the Department of Labor OFLC Wage Search website for your SOC code and county on that day.
• Match the offered pay and location: The Form I-129 petition must list an offered wage that equals or exceeds the prevailing wage for the corresponding wage level, SOC code, and county on your selected registration.
• Align 6-digit and 8-digit SOC codes: Some jobs carry an 8-digit code on the certified LCA, such as 17-2051.01. USCIS confirms that your employer can use the matching 6-digit code (17-2051) on Form I-129 to align with the registration without causing a mismatch.
• Document passport renewals: If your passport expires between registration in March and petition filing, your employer enters your new passport details on Form I-129 and attaches copies of both documents with an explanation.
• Flag legitimate business changes: If company details change after registration, such as an office relocation, attach a written explanation and supporting documents. USCIS recommends placing a brightly colored coversheet on top so the adjudicating officer spots the explanation immediately.

What are the registration fees, payment limits, and 2026 court updates?

Employers must pay the non-refundable registration fee through Pay.gov before submitting each worker's electronic registration. If a payment is later declined, disputed, or not reconciled, USCIS invalidates the registration.

On September 19, 2025, Presidential Proclamation 10973 required an additional payment in the table below for certain petitions filed on or after September 21, 2025. This applied to workers outside the United States without a valid H-1B visa. It also covered petitions requesting consular notification, port of entry notification, or pre-flight inspection. However, on June 8, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated the guidance implementing that payment in State of California v. Mullin. On July 24, 2026, the First Circuit denied the government's motion for a stay pending appeal. USCIS stated it will comply with the court's order while considering next steps, though DHS plans to collect the payment if the order is lifted.

Separately, on January 9, 2026, DHS announced an inflation adjustment to premium processing fees taking effect March 1, 2026. On August 10, 2026, DHS issued a final rule effective September 9, 2026, requiring covered employers (50 or more U.S. workers with more than 50% in H-1B or L-1 status) to pay the statutory 9-11 Biometric Fee on applicable petitions.

H-1B registration fees, payment limits, and Presidential Proclamation figures from uscis.gov, as of November 2026

Historical H-1B registration data (FY 2021 to FY 2026)

Before introducing wage-level weights for FY 2027, DHS first curbed duplicate multiple-employer filings through its beneficiary-centric rule. According to USCIS data, eligible registrations dropped by 26.9% between FY 2025 (470,342 eligible registrations) and FY 2026 (343,981 eligible registrations), with an average of just 1.01 registrations per unique beneficiary in FY 2026 compared to 1.06 in FY 2025.

By our calculation from USCIS historical registration data, the share of eligible registrations submitted for beneficiaries with multiple registrations fell from 53.9% in FY 2024 (408,891 out of 758,994 eligible registrations) to 2.3% in FY 2026 (7,828 out of 343,981 eligible registrations).

Historical H-1B electronic registration and selection counts from uscis.gov, as of September 2026

What the consular officer may ask at your H-1B visa interview

If your registration is selected and USCIS approves your Form I-129 petition, you apply for an H-1B visa stamp at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad. The consular officer will verify that your real job duties, worksite, and salary match the approved petition and LCA. Because the weighted selection rule ties lottery odds directly to your pay and county of employment, expect direct questions on those facts:

• What is your offered annual salary, and where will you physically work? What it checks: Whether your actual compensation and worksite match the OEWS wage level, city, state, and county listed on your Form I-129 and certified LCA. How to prepare: Know the exact base salary figure on Form I-129 and every work location listed on your LCA, including any hybrid or third-party client site addresses.
• Can you describe your day-to-day job duties and why this role requires your degree? What it checks: That you are entering a bona fide specialty occupation requiring specialized knowledge and a directly related bachelor's or higher degree. How to prepare: Be ready to explain your specific technical responsibilities in two or three plain sentences and have your degree certificates and transcripts on hand.
• Did you or your employer work with any other company to submit multiple registrations for you? What it checks: Compliance with the beneficiary-centric anti-fraud attestation and the prohibition on related entities filing duplicative petitions without a legitimate business need. How to prepare: Answer honestly about how you found the job offer and bring your signed employment offer letter and Form I-797 approval notice.

Practice example

Your petition was selected under Wage Level III. What will your exact compensation and job duties be, and which work location will you report to?

A strong, honest answer states your exact base annual salary, your job title, and the specific city and state of your worksite in one or two clear sentences that match your Form I-129 and certified Labor Condition Application. Next, summarize two or three core technical duties you will perform and connect them directly to your bachelor's or advanced degree field. If your role involves hybrid work or reporting to more than one office location, state every work location clearly so the officer sees that your salary meets the required prevailing wage level across all sites. Have your Form I-797 approval notice, certified Form ETA-9035 LCA, signed job offer letter, and university degree documents organized in your folder so you can hand them over immediately if the officer asks to verify the wage or location basis.

The consular officer is checking that the job offer is bona fide and that your actual salary, specialty occupation duties, and physical work locations match the OEWS wage level and SOC code used to weight your H-1B registration and approve your Form I-129 petition.

This is interview practice, not legal advice. For questions about your own case, talk to an immigration attorney. Visaful is not affiliated with the U.S. government or the Department of State.