The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said this year’s H-1B visa season has seen a higher share of selected applicants with advanced degrees and higher salaries, following changes introduced to the selection process.
In a statement, USCIS said 71.5% of selected applicants hold a US master’s degree or higher, up from 57% last year. The agency also said only 17.7% of selected registrations fell in the lowest wage category.
USCIS said the number of properly submitted registrations dropped 38.5%, from 343,981 in fiscal year 2026 to 211,600 in fiscal year 2027.
The agency linked the changes to new policies aimed at reducing low-wage filings and giving preference to higher-skilled applicants.
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Earlier this year, USCIS introduced a wage-based weighted selection system for the H-1B programme, replacing the earlier random lottery method. Under the new process, applicants with higher wage levels receive greater weight during selections.
USCIS had also announced that the initial FY2027 H-1B cap selection process was completed before opening petition filings from April 1, 2026, for selected beneficiaries.
“This data is a clear sign that the days of abusing the program with mass, low-wage registrations are over,” USCIS said in the statement.
