The H-1B Lottery Changed: Your Wage Level Now Sets Your Number of Entries

JYCareer · Visas & Careers | Policy explainer, not legal advice — consult a licensed U.S. immigration attorney for your case.

What changed

DHS published a final rule on December 29, 2025 (effective February 27, 2026) replacing the purely random H-1B cap lottery with a wage-weighted selection. The FY2027 registration (March 4–19, 2026; results March 31) was the first lottery run under it.

How the weighting works

Each registration enters the selection pool one to four times, based on the Department of Labor prevailing wage level the offered salary meets or exceeds:

• Level IV: 4 entries
• Level III: 3 entries
• Level II: 2 entries
• Level I: 1 entry

First jobs after graduation usually fall in the lower levels.

What sets the level

Wage levels are set by the Department of Labor from the local wage distribution for the same occupation — what matters is where the offer sits among local peers, not the dollar amount. Two inputs decide it:

• Occupation: the role's SOC code (software developer, data scientist and financial analyst each have their own);
• Work location: the metro area, each with its own wage data.

The data comes from DOL's Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), updated each July and searchable by SOC code and area on DOL's FLC Data Center. The current four levels (in use since 2005):

Level	Percentile of local wages	Roughly
Level I	17th	Entry
Level II	34th	Some experience
Level III	50th (median)	Experienced
Level IV	67th	Expert / senior

The offer counts at the highest level whose amount it meets or exceeds, so the same salary can land at different levels in different cities or roles.

Pending change: on March 27, 2026, DOL proposed raising the four levels to the 34th, 52nd, 70th and 88th percentiles. Comments closed May 26; as of October 2026 the rule is not final. If finalized, the same pay would generally map to a lower level, pushing more first jobs into Level I.

Metro areas, not cities

Wage data is published by metropolitan statistical area (MSA) — a group of counties that all share one set of figures. Pittsburgh and the Bay Area as examples:

• Pittsburgh metro: 8 counties — Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Lawrence, Washington and Westmoreland.
• The Bay Area is not one area: the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro covers San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Marin counties; Silicon Valley's San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro (Santa Clara and San Benito counties) has its own figures.

Official DOL levels for data scientists (SOC 15-2051), wage year 2026–27 (July 2026 – June 2027):

Level	Pittsburgh	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara
Level I	$64,043	$110,386	$125,486
Level II	$83,117	$142,438	$168,917
Level III	$102,170	$174,512	$212,326
Level IV	$121,243	$206,565	$255,757

The same $130,000 data-scientist offer:

• reaches Level IV in Pittsburgh — 4 entries;
• reaches only Level I in San Francisco — 1 entry;
• reaches only Level I in San Jose — 1 entry.

Look up or download the figures for any occupation and area on DOL's FLAG site (flag.dol.gov).

Remote and multi-location work

The level follows the actual place of work, not the company's headquarters:

• Fully remote: the worksite is usually the employee's home, and that area's wage data sets the level; the employer's Labor Condition Application (LCA) is filed for that location.
• Hybrid / multiple worksites: the registration lists one location — the one with the lowest corresponding wage level — and USCIS weights the entry at that level; the petition must then list every actual worksite.
• Moving later: an H-1B worker who moves to a different metro usually needs a new LCA and an amended petition, and a higher-wage area may require a raise.

How to prepare

1. Ask about the wage level when you get an offer — confirm the occupation code and level with the employer or its immigration counsel.
2. Factor in location — the same pay can mean a different level, and a different number of entries, depending on where you work; hybrid roles count at the lowest level, remote roles at the area where you actually live and work.
3. Plan around OPT — STEM graduates can add a 24-month extension to the 12-month OPT, giving several lottery rounds.
4. Never inflate the wage for the lottery — the level in the registration must match the later petition; a mismatch can lead to denial or revocation.

Next round

FY2028 registration is expected in March 2027; watch for the USCIS announcement.

Sources: DHS final rule (Dec 29, 2025), DOL OFLC wage data for wage year 2026–27, DOL proposed prevailing-wage rule (Mar 27, 2026), USCIS FY2027 lottery announcement, and public analyses by immigration law firms. Current as of October 2026.