The H-1B program has just undergone its most significant transformation in more than three decades, and the FY2027 cap season was the first to run under the new rules. Between a wage-weighted selection system, a six-figure fee caught in active litigation, and a proposed overhaul of prevailing wages, employers and foreign nationals are navigating a landscape that looks very different from even a year ago. This article walks through what changed, how the first weighted cap season played out, and the practical steps to take now.

Because several of these issues are evolving quickly, and the $100,000 fee in particular, readers should confirm the current status of any time-sensitive item before relying on it. Nothing here is legal advice.

The headline change: a wage-weighted lottery

For most of the program’s history, when registrations exceeded the annual cap of 85,000 (65,000 in the regular pool plus 20,000 reserved for U.S. master’s degree holders), selection was a flat random draw. Every registration had the same odds regardless of the salary offered.

That is no longer the case. The Department of Homeland Security finalized a rule on December 29, 2025, effective February 27, 2026, that replaces the random lottery with a weighted selection process. Registrations are now assigned entries based on the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) wage level that the offered salary meets or exceeds: a Level IV (highest) position receives four entries in the pool, Level III receives three, Level II receives two, and Level I (entry level) receives a single entry. Each individual beneficiary is still counted only once toward the cap, no matter how many entries their registration earns or how many employers register them.

The practical effect is that an applicant’s odds are now tied directly to the wage level offered. Compensation strategy, not merely eligibility, has become a central factor in whether a candidate is selected.

The change also pushed more work to the front of the process. Employers must now provide the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code, the OEWS wage level, and the area of intended employment for every candidate at registration, rather than only later at the petition stage. The new February 27, 2026 edition of Form I-129 requires position details consistent with the registration’s SOC code, along with evidence supporting the wage level selected. Registration data and petition data must line up, and inconsistencies invite denials.

How the FY2027 season played out

The FY2027 registration window ran from March 4 to March 19, 2026, with a $215 fee per registration. USCIS announced on March 31 that it had received enough registrations to reach the cap, including the master’s cap, and selected petitioners received at least 90 days from April 1 to file.

Demand remained strong despite the heavier compliance burden and higher costs. Large staffing and consulting firms, historically heavy users of entry-level filings, recalibrated around the new weighting, while smaller employers and start-ups adjusted their strategies. It was the first season in which employers had to commit to a wage level and occupation up front, raising the planning stakes considerably.

On selection rates, the headline number moved very little. FY2026 ran at roughly a 35% overall selection rate (about 120,000 selected from approximately 344,000 eligible registrations, in a single lottery round). Early estimates for FY2027 place the overall rate in a similar 34% to 42% range. Official FY2027 selection data had not yet been published at the time of writing, so the FY2027 figures here are estimates and should be verified against USCIS data once released.

The more meaningful story is underneath that overall number. Because selection is now weighted, the single “selection rate” fractures by wage level. Early modeling suggests Level I registrations may face odds around 15%, Level II around 31%, Level III around 46%, and Level IV around 61%. In other words, the average masks a wide spread, and that spread is precisely what the new system was designed to create.

Who is favored, and who is squeezed

The weighting reshapes the odds by profile. Better positioned are mid-career and senior hires at Levels III and IV, high-wage technical and specialized roles, employers who can document above-prevailing compensation, and occupations or markets with higher OEWS wages. More squeezed are recent international graduates on F-1/OPT seeking entry-level roles, bona fide Level I and II positions, start-ups and early-stage employers, and universities and nonprofits that rely on lower wage levels for legitimate reasons. DHS frames the change as protecting U.S. wages and rewarding skill; critics argue it disadvantages early-career talent and the institutions that hire them.

The $100,000 fee: a moving target

A September 2025 presidential proclamation introduced a $100,000 fee tied to a specific scenario: initial H-1B petitions for beneficiaries outside the United States who require consular notification. It is not retroactive, and it generally does not apply to change-of-status petitions filed inside the U.S., extensions, or amendments, although a domestic case that fails and reverts to consular processing can pull the fee back in.

The fee’s legal status has whipsawed. A federal court in the District of Columbia upheld it in December 2025. A Massachusetts court then vacated it nationwide in June 2026 as an unlawful tax, but that ruling was paused almost immediately: the government appealed, obtained a temporary administrative stay reinstating the fee, and filed an emergency stay request with the First Circuit. As a result, the fee remains in effect for consular cases while the appeal proceeds. With courts split and a scheduled sunset around September 20, 2026 (absent extension), the issue is widely expected to reach the Supreme Court. Anyone affected should confirm the current status before filing.

On the horizon: prevailing wages and more

The Department of Labor published a proposed rule on March 27, 2026 that would raise entry-level salary requirements by more than 30%, retain a four-tier structure, and extend the changes to the PERM process. DOL data points to an average gap of roughly $14,000 between currently offered wages and the proposed prevailing levels. Combined with the wage-weighted lottery, higher floors would hit Level I and II roles twice: once on eligibility cost and once on selection odds. Employers should audit which positions sit at the lower tiers, model the financial impact, and consider submitting comments during the open window. Also on the regulatory radar are expected revisions to cap-exemption eligibility (a direct concern for universities and nonprofits), continued tightening of the specialty-occupation definition, and heightened documentation scrutiny across the filing cycle.

H-4 and H-4 EAD: what changed, and what didn’t

The H-4 dependent visa and the H-4 Employment Authorization Document (EAD) for certain spouses remain legally intact. The D.C. Circuit upheld the program, and the Supreme Court declined to hear the long-running challenge in October 2025. A proposal to rescind the H-4 EAD has been under federal review, but no proposed rule has been published, and any rescission would require full notice and comment.

Two common misconceptions are worth dispelling. First, the December 2025 policy reducing maximum EAD validity to 18 months applied to adjustment-of-status and humanitarian categories, not H-4. H-4 EAD validity continues to track the H-4 I-94. Second, the H-4 EAD is not eligible for premium processing; that option exists only for certain F-1 OPT categories. The genuine change is the end of the 540-day automatic extension for renewals filed on or after October 30, 2025: with no grace period, a processing delay can force a spouse to stop working. The practical defense is to file renewals as early as USCIS allows, up to 180 days before expiration, and for employers to maintain disciplined I-9 reverification tracking.

These statuses are interdependent. A disruption to the H-1B principal cascades to the H-4 spouse and the EAD, household income can hinge on uninterrupted work authorization, children lose H-4 status at age 21, and multi-year green card backlogs can leave families relying on the H-4 EAD for a decade or more.

What to do now

Lead with wage strategy: map each candidate to a realistic, defensible wage level early, because it now drives both selection odds and cost exposure. Keep beneficiaries in-country where possible to avoid triggering the $100,000 fee while it remains live. File H-4 EAD renewals as early as permitted. And document to the new standard, aligning registration and petition data and retaining wage-level evidence, because inconsistency is now an invitation to denial.

This article is provided for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Immigration rules in this area are changing rapidly; please consult qualified counsel about your specific situation.

By: Felipe Jimenez

Felipe Jimenez is an Associate Attorney at Reddy Neumann Brown PC. He works in the Non-Immigrant Visa (NIV) Department where he assists clients through all phases of the non-immigrant visa process.

Reddy Neumann Brown PC has been serving the business community for over 20 years and is Houston’s largest immigration law firm focused solely on US. Employment-based immigration. We work with both employers and their employees, helping them navigate the immigration process quickly and cost-effectively.