DHS PROPOSES WEIGHTED SELECTION PROCESS FOR H-1B CAP PETITIONS

On July 17, 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), submitted a proposed regulation to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. The rule, titled *Weighted Selection Process for Registrants and Petitioners Seeking To File Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions* (RIN: 1615-AD01), is currently in the OMB’s review phase and has not yet been published in the Federal Register. As a proposed rule, it will undergo a public comment period before it can become final.

The proposed rule may introduce a new method for selecting H-1B registrations, potentially replacing the current lottery system with a weighted process that favors higher-wage positions. This concept echoes a rule issued at the end of the Trump administration, which sought to prioritize H-1B registrations based on the highest prevailing wage levels. That earlier rule was vacated by a federal court and later withdrawn by the Biden administration due to legal concerns over the authority of the official who issued it.

It is not yet clear how similar this new proposal will be to the withdrawn Trump-era rule, nor how it would interact with the USCIS’s *beneficiary-centric* selection system finalized in February 2024 (effective March 4, 2024). That 2024 regulation shifted the H-1B registration process to select entries based on unique individuals rather than multiple submissions per beneficiary.

The final content of the new proposal, including whether wage levels will factor into selection or how it aligns with the 2024 integrity-focused rule, remains unknown until the rule is officially published and opened for public comment.

For historical context, the 2021 wage-based rule was invalidated because the acting DHS Secretary at the time lacked proper legal authority. Following the court’s decision, DHS formally rescinded the rule in December 2021.

Stakeholders are encouraged to monitor the Federal Register for updates and to participate in the upcoming public comment process once the proposed rule is released.