The Donald Trump administration in the United States is replacing its longstanding H-1B work visa lottery system with a new weighted approach that prioritises skilled, higher-paid foreign workers, a change expected to make it significantly harder for entry-level professionals, including those from India, to secure work visas in America.
The overhaul follows a series of actions by the Trump administration aimed at reshaping a visa programme that critics say has become a pipeline for overseas workers willing to work for lower pay, but supporters say drives innovation.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the new rule will take effect on February 27, 2026. It will govern the allocation of approximately 85,000 H-1B visas annually beginning with the fiscal 2027 registration season.
“The existing random selection process of H-1B registrations was exploited and abused by US employers who were primarily seeking to import foreign workers at lower wages than they would pay American workers,” said US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) spokesman Matthew Tragesser.