The New H-1B Weighted Lottery System: Everything You Need to Know
Understand the new H-1B weighted lottery system, including wage-based selection, and how to check your prevailing wage level.
The H-1B visa is moving away from a random drawing for the fiscal year 2027 lottery with a new weighted system giving more lottery entries to people in higher wage levels according to the cost of living in their area. Here’s what you need to know about the new lottery system and what it means for you.
How the new H-1B weighted lottery works
Under the new system, your chances in the H-1B lottery are linked to how your salary compares to others in your specific field and location of work. The Department of Labor (DOL) groups wages into four levels based on data from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program.
Note: The levels are based on percentiles. If your salary band is in the 50th percentile, it means you earn more than half of the people in your occupation and area.
H-1B weighted lottery: Wave levels and entries
| Wage level | Lottery entries | Salary band (percentile) |
|---|---|---|
| Level IV | 4 | 67th percentile |
| Level III | 3 | 50th percentile (median) |
| Level II | 2 | 34th percentile |
| Level I | 1 | 17th percentile |
The new rule takes effect Feb 27, 2026, in time for the fiscal year 2027 lottery.
Will the new H-1B lottery help people in lower-cost-of-living areas get more lottery entries?
Under the new H-1B wage-weighted system, foreign workers are no longer competing in a truly random lottery. Their odds now depend on how their salary compares with other H-1B visa applicants in the same field and city. This means that job level, location, and market data matter more than ever. This policy shift fundamentally changes the strategy for foreign employees. A $100,000 salary may sound high, but in a major metropolitan market such as New York or San Francisco it may only qualify as a lower wage level, while that same salary in a smaller city could carry significantly more weight in the selection process.
Why high salaries don’t always mean more H-1B lottery entries
A crucial but often misunderstood aspect of the weighted lottery system is that wage levels measure relative seniority within an occupation, not absolute pay across occupations.
As immigration policy analyst Jeremy Neufeld at the Institute for Progress documents, wage levels do not reliably identify the highest-paid or most skilled workers. Examples from actual H-1B petitions filed between FY2021-2024 illustrate this disconnect:
| Occupation | Salary | Prevailing Wage Level | Lottery Entries |
|---|---|---|---|
| Otolaryngology Surgeon | $300,000 | Level I | 1 |
| PhD Technical Staff (OpenAI) | $280,000 | Level II | 2 |
| Acupuncturist | $41,600 | Level III | 3 |
| Landscape Architect | $36,090 | Level IV | 4 |
Under the weighted lottery, the landscape architect in this example would receive more lottery entries than the surgeon or the PhD technical staff, despite earning a fraction of their compensation.
Does having a master’s degree help under the new weighted system?
Yes. Holding a master's degree from a U.S. institution remains a significant advantage for the FY 2027 season. While the new 1–4 lottery entry weighting applies to everyone, advanced degree holders still benefit from a two-stage selection process:
- The Regular Cap: You are first entered into the pool for the 65,000 general slots, with your entries weighted by your prevailing wage level.
- The Master’s Cap: If not selected in the first round, your weighted entries are placed into a second, exclusive pool for the additional 20,000 "advanced degree" slots.
This effectively gives you two opportunities to be selected, and if you are at a Wage Level III or IV, your cumulative probability of selection is significantly higher than a bachelor’s degree holder at the same wage level.
How wage data can impact the H-1B lottery wage levels
OEWS wage data is updated annually, typically around July 1 each year. This creates potential complications for employers who submit H-1B registrations in March based on current wage levels, but may need to file petitions after July when new wage thresholds take effect. The wage level that qualified a registration for selection might not be the same as the level that applies when the petition is actually filed.
How to check your prevailing wage level
To determine your wage level and lottery weighting, you must use the official DOL data. Follow these steps to find the specific thresholds for your job role:1. Identify your SOC code:
• Use O*NET OnLine to match your job responsibilities to a Standard Occupational Code (SOC) (e.g. 13-2051.00 for Financial and Investment Analysts)
• Do not rely solely on the advertised job title; search by the core responsibilities
2. Access the FLAG Wage Search Tool
• Visit OFLC Wage Search and select the data series for the current year
• Choose All Industries (for most) or ACWIA (for academia)
• Enter the SOC code obtained from O*NET OnLine
3. Filter by location
Select your state and area (prevailing wages are highly localized. A Software Developer in San Francisco will have a much higher wage floor than one in Phoenix).
4. Determine your lottery entries
Compare your offered salary to the four levels provided in the search result:
Wage Level IV: 4 lottery entries
Wage Level III: 3 lottery entries
Wage Level II: 2 lottery entries
Wage Level I: 1 lottery entry
Note: If your salary falls in between two wage levels, you are classified at the highest level that your wage meets or exceeds. e.g. if Level II is $80k and Level III is $110k, a $115k salary qualifies as Level III.
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Frequently asked questions
Does the new H-1B lottery system completely get rid of the lottery?
No. The H-1B allocation remains a lottery-based system, but the lottery is now weighted rather than purely random. Every validly submitted registration remains eligible for selection, but higher wage levels receive more "entries" and therefore better odds.
When does the weighted lottery take effect?
The new rule takes effect on Feb 27, 2026, in time for the FY 2027 H-1B cap registration period expected to open in March 2026.
Does the new weighted system apply to cap-exempt employers?
No. Employers exempt from the H-1B cap (institutions of higher education, nonprofit research organizations, government research organizations) remain exempt from both the numerical cap and the new lottery system.
This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Immigration laws, fees, and processing times are subject to rapid change by the U.S. government. For specific legal guidance, please consult a licensed immigration attorney or refer directly to USCIS.gov.
