DHS Proposes to Reform the H-1B Selection Process to Favor Higher-Paid Workers

The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) submitted a public comment last week on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s proposed rule titled “Weighted Selection Process or Registrants and Petitioners Seeking to File Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions” (90 Fed. Reg. 45986, September 24, 2025). With this rulemaking, DHS proposes to amend its regulations governing the process by which U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) selects H-1B cap-subject petitions (or H-1B petitions for any year in which the registration requirement is suspended). The agency proposed to move away from a purely random lottery selection process to a weighted process to favor the selection of higher-skilled and higher-paid workers.

While CIS believes the DHS proposal will improve the status quo, CIS proposed additional reforms to ensure that the H-1B program fulfills its statutory purpose: to allow U.S. employers to temporarily hire truly high-skilled workers when qualified U.S. workers are unavailable — without displacing or undercutting American labor.

Replacing the purely random selection process with one that prioritizes higher wages and higher skill levels will help restore the program’s original intent, discourage abuse, and protect both U.S. and foreign workers from unfair labor practices. In tandem, CIS requested that DHS amend its regulations to only provide cap exemption eligibility for workers who are directly employed by a qualifying employer, reinstate USCIS’s itinerary requirement, repeal USCIS’s deference policy, tighten the “specialty occupation” definition, and work with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to raise wage rates to close known loopholes and enhance oversight.

Taken together, these changes would make the H-1B program more transparent, merit-based, and consistent with the letter and spirit of the Immigration and Nationality Act. CIS urged DHS to adopt a final rule that fully advances these objectives and to coordinate with DOL to ensure that wage-setting and certification processes align with congressional intent.