The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has made a crucial announcement regarding the H-1B visa lottery process concerning American visa aspirants, especially Indian software professionals. The USCIS has given a major shock to foreign professionals dreaming of working in America, particularly the Indian IT sector. Officials have clarified that H-1B petitions sufficient to fill the annual quota limit set for fiscal year 2027 (2026-27) have already been received. With the deadline having expired for companies to submit full-fledged petitions on behalf of candidates selected in the lottery, USCIS has officially announced that there is no question of conducting a second round lottery this time to fill the quota.
American companies issue a total of 85,000 H-1B visas every year to hire foreign specialists in technology fields. Of these, 65,000 are regular visas for those with a standard degree qualification, while another 20,000 visas are allocated under the “Masters Cap” (advanced degree exemption) for those who have pursued higher education in the US itself. Officials stated that the June 30, 2026 deadline given for those selected in the lottery for these 85,000 slots to submit final petitions along with fees has successfully concluded, and the quota has been completely filled.
Notably, the number of visa registrations has dropped significantly this time compared to last year. While a record 3,43,981 H-1B registrations were received in fiscal year 2026, only 2,11,600 registrations came in for fiscal year 2027. This means applications have dropped by nearly 38.5 percent. Given this significant drop in applications, IT professionals worldwide had widely expected that there would definitely be an additional (second) lottery this time to fill the vacancies remaining after the primary lottery. However, USCIS’s latest announcement has overturned all those expectations.
Typically, H-1B visas were selected through a fully computerized, completely random (luck-based) method. But this time, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) brought in key changes to the regulations. For the first time this fiscal year, the lottery was conducted under a “Wage-Based Selection System.” This means that professionals with the highest wages and highest technical skills (Level 4 category) were given the highest priority in visa selection.
Due to this new wage-based selection system, the chances of candidates who applied for lower-paying or entry-level (Level 1) jobs getting visas have significantly decreased. Although this system was introduced to curb fraud involving duplicate registrations filed by the same individual through different companies, it has become a major challenge for young software engineers at the start of their careers. Officials have stated that more clear details regarding this new selection process will be revealed soon.
The official working period for international employees who have completed final selection through the current lottery process and received visas will begin from October 1, 2026. With the second lottery opportunity completely closed this time, thousands of Indian applicants who were not selected in the first round now find themselves in a situation where they have no choice but to wait until the registration process for the next fiscal year (2028 fiscal quota) begins.