Trump Administration to Abandon Random H-1B Visa Lottery

Currently, U.S. companies vie for the limited visas every year in a purely random lottery.Under the new rule, however, applicants at the highest wage level will receive four entries, those in the next wage bracket will receive three entries, and so on.

This means that an applicant at a higher salary level or with more advanced qualifications will be more likely to get a visa than someone with lower pay or less specialized skills. Lower-paid or lower-skilled workers, meanwhile, will not be excluded entirely, but their odds of being selected will be lower.

The change is intended “to better protect the wages, working conditions, and job opportunities for American workers,” the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a Tuesday press release.

While supporters of the H?1B visa program argue it attracts global talent and fuels innovation, critics assert the system enables employers to hire foreign workers for lower pay than their American counterparts would earn.