H-1B Lottery Scrapped: How The New 'Weighted Selection' Rule Impacts Indian Techies For FY 2027

The H-1B lottery is officially dead. Starting Feb 27, 2026, the US will replace random selection with a weighted system favouring high-wage Level 4 applicants. With a new USD 100,000 fee and strict social media vetting already causing chaos in India, here is how the FY 2027 visa season will change for Indian IT professionals.

A historic rule finalised by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) eliminated the lottery system that has been in place for many decades to select H-1B visas and replaced it with "weighted selection" based on higher-paid and higher-skilled workers. The rule is to come into effect from February 27, 2026.

The changes will now apply to the FY 2027 cap subject registration season, which will start in March 2026, and will shift the system of allocation of visas from "luck" to "value." Meanwhile, this applied to Indian professionals, who consistently grab more than 70% of such visas.

The new rules:

The "Weighted Selection" System Explained

In the prior system, the total of 85,000 visas awarded each year (20,000 of which were for master's degrees) were allocated by lottery through a random computer process. In contrast, the new system has a priority allocation system with varying eligibility levels tied to Department of Labor wage determinations for labor categories such as

• Level IV (Highest Tier): Candidates are placed in the pool four times, thus increasing their chances by a factor of two.
• Level III: Candidates are given three options to choose from.
• Level II: The applicants will be given two entries,
• Level I (Entry-Level): Candidates are provided only one entry, significantly reducing their chances of acceptance by almost 50%.

"The old lottery system, in fact, had been exploited by employers seeking to import workers at cheaper wages," Matthew Tragesser, an official for the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, told Agence France-Presse in an explanation.

"The USD 100,000 Barrier" For New Applicants

The changes to the lottery come in the wake of another highly contentious Presidential Proclamation, which has come into effect from September 21, 2025, and mandates an enormous fee of $100,000 for all new H-1B petitions.

Indian IT Impact: For large companies such as TCS and Infosys, the filing of 5,000 visas has become an annual expense of $500 million, a 9,000% jump compared to the earlier years.

Small Business Squeeze: According to industry analysts, smaller tech companies and start-ups will essentially become priced out of the talent pool in the United States, thus benefiting only the "Big Tech" giants.

The impact has been 'a logistical nightmare' in India:

Appointment Chaos: Thousands of visa interviews that were scheduled at consulates in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad have been postponed, with many wait times extending past the end of 2026.

Stranded Professionals: Indian professionals working in different IT companies in the US are stranded in India due to "visa stamping," so companies are now issuing travel advisories against leaving the country.

Fallout In "India's Tech Dream"

The combination of pay-related selection criteria, high cost of living allowances, and intrusive screening has already started to change this. Industry association NASSCOM has warned that this could affect the delivery model of the Indian IT industry, which has an estimated turnover of USD 245 billion. 

As it has become an increasingly tough call to attain the "onsite" dream, many professionals have now turned their attention to Canada, Germany, and Australia and are opting to join US Global Capability Centers directly from Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

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