The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has made a key announcement regarding the H-1B visa lottery process for US visa hopefuls, particularly Indian software professionals. It has delivered a big shock to foreign professionals dreaming of working in America, especially those in the Indian IT sector. Officials have confirmed that enough H-1B petitions have already been received to meet the annual quota limit set for fiscal year 2027 (2026-27). With the deadline for companies to submit full petitions on behalf of selected lottery candidates having now closed, USCIS has officially announced that there is no question of holding a second lottery to fill the quota this time.
American companies issue a total of 85,000 H-1B visas each year to hire foreign specialists in technical fields. Of these, 65,000 are regular visas for candidates with standard degree qualifications, while another 20,000 are allocated under the “Master’s Cap” (advanced degree exemption) for those who completed higher education in the US. Officials stated that the June 30, 2026 deadline for lottery-selected candidates to submit final petitions along with fees for these 85,000 slots has successfully closed, and the quota has been completely filled.
Notably, the number of visa registrations this year has dropped sharply compared to last year. While fiscal year 2026 saw a record 3,43,981 H-1B registrations, fiscal year 2027 received only 2,11,600 registrations — a decline of roughly 38.5 percent. Given this sharp drop in applications, IT professionals worldwide had widely expected that a second (additional) lottery would definitely be held this time to fill the vacancies remaining after the initial lottery. However, USCIS’s latest announcement has overturned all those expectations.
Typically, H-1B visas were selected entirely at random through a computerized system. But this time, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) introduced key changes to the rules. For the first time this fiscal year, the lottery was conducted under a “Wage-Based Selection System.” This means that highly skilled professionals with the highest salaries (Level 4 category) received the highest priority in visa selection.
Because of this new wage-based selection system, the chances of candidates who applied for lower-paying or entry-level (Level 1) jobs securing visas have dropped significantly. While this system was introduced to curb fraud involving multiple fake registrations filed for 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 further clear details regarding this new selection process will be released soon.
The official employment start period for international employees who completed final selection through the current lottery process and received visas will begin from October 1, 2026. With the possibility of a second lottery completely ruled out this time, thousands of Indian applicants who were not selected in the first round now have no choice but to wait until the registration process for the next fiscal year’s quota (fiscal year 2028) begins.