H1B lottery surge: Immigration firm says H-1B lottery selection rates rise to ‘unprecedented levels’ under Trump’s new rules

Immigration firms say selection rates for the H-1B lottery have improved this year.

Selection rates jumped to “unprecedented levels” in this year’s first H-1B lottery (fiscal year 2027) under Donald Trump’s second administration, Bloomberg method The report cited data from immigration companies. This is the first salary-based lottery since the government imposed a $100,000 fee on H-1B applications. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has not yet released official data on the number of registrations and draws it has received, but law firms told Bloomberg they are seeing higher success rates this time around. The visa program for hiring foreign professional workers used to rely on random draws because the program received more applications than its annual quota of 85,000. But the government changed the lottery rules to give more qualified candidates more chances of winning. Some top law firms say the success rate this year is 50-60%, compared with only one-third of the chances of being selected in previous years.

What does this mean for H-1B applicants?

The Trump administration has been aggressively cracking down on immigration, employment and visa fraud. Some Republicans want the H-1B program to end entirely because they don’t want U.S. jobs going to Indians or Chinese. But if H-1B selection rates increase under the Trump administration, is that good news for Americans and H-1B seekers? Immigration firms told Bloomberg the chances of winning are increased this year because the prize pool is smaller this time and the fee is $100,000. After the fees were imposed, universities and hospitals stopped almost all international recruitment because they could not afford the high fees. Many tech companies also choose not to hire from overseas, which has accounted for four out of 10 new H-1B workers in recent years. Tech companies investing heavily in artificial intelligence are also reducing the number of foreign employees this time around. Many companies are still waiting and watching to see if there are any changes to the rules or if there is a court order to stop charging visa fees. The increased chances of winning are good news for high-skilled workers, as the new system favors higher-paid, experienced workers. The same is true for American workers, meaning entry-level jobs will not go to foreign workers.