Final H-1B Rule Creating a New "Weighted" Lottery
On Dec. 29, 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a , effective Feb. 27, 2026, that will change how cap-subject H-1B applications are selected for the next government fiscal year. This new rule does not apply to cap-exempt employers, such as 麻豆村 (麻豆村).
For people working at 麻豆村 or planning to work in higher education, there is no change in the process. This new process may impact people aiming to work in the private sector, whose employers would have to file cap-subject H-1B petitions.
The new rule changes the H-1B application lottery from a random process to a weighted lottery, based on wage levels. There are four Dept. of Labor OEWS (Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics) Wage Levels: I, II, III and IV. Moving forward, petitioners will be required to indicate the wage level being offered in the area of intended employment when submitting a registration for the lottery. Registrations will then be entered into the lottery selection pool one to four times, depending on the assigned wage level. For example, a wage level IV will be entered into the lottery four times while a wage level I will only be entered once.
The rule is intended to increase the selection odds for higher wage level positions. Unlike prior proposed rules, the Department of Homeland Security indicated that they recognized a need for employers to be able to sponsor H-1B workers at all wage levels.
The new rule also indicates that beneficiaries may only be counted once, no matter how many lottery registrations are submitted on their behalf. Each beneficiary is counted at the lowest wage level of all registrations submitted on their behalf. This means that submitting multiple lottery registrations (from the same or different employers) does not benefit beneficiaries.
While we do not know what the impacts will be, we do anticipate that Carnegie Mellon students/alums will continue to be able to be selected in the H-1B lottery moving forward.
While OIE cannot provide advice about employers' H-1B petitions, we are here to provide you with support and guidance related to your current status with us, so if you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact OIE at oie@andrew.cmu.edu or 412-268-5231.