New H-1B proposal to possibly replace lottery clears White House review: What it means, what’s next?

A new H-1B proposal, drafted by the Department of Homeland Security, to possibly replace the visa lottery, was approved by a key White House office, Bloomberg reported. The proposal may get public release soon now that it has cleared a White House office, the report said. The administration did not reveal what is in the proposal but it’s believed that the proposals are mostly the same as the first Trump administration proposed for the selection of H-1B petitions. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs cleared the rule on August 8, Bloomberg reported.H-1B program, visa lottery, wage-based selectionThe H-1B is a visa program that allows US tech companies to hire foreigners. Every year, 85,000 slots are approved for H-1B. A random lottery is conducted each spring through which employers are selected to move ahead with their petitions. The lottery was brought into the system to eliminate the possibility of any bias toward any particular tech company. But the first Trump administration wanted to base the allocation of H-1B slots on the wages of the roles so that tech companies only hire the high-wage foreigners for their high-skill roles. The role was withdrawn by the Biden administration and the businesses, immigration groups opposed it and said it would restrict the number of H-1Bs.

If the new rule indeed changes the selection to wage-based, then H-1Bs will be hired only for groups 3 and 4. This will protect entry-level jobs for Americans but getting a job in the US will become difficult for foreign graduates. This will lead to a major H-1B shake-up, one that MAGA activists have been demanding to protect American jobs. For this change, there will be no need for Congress approval as if the proposal does not involve changing the H-1B cap; the DHS and the USCIS can notify the new rules.