H-1B wage levels: What will change in the new US immigration rules that will end visa lottery?

The US administration is planning to bring in a new H-1B rule which will give weightage to wage level instead of the random lottery that takes place now when H-1B registration exceed the annual limit of 65,000 plus the additional 20,000 for individuals with an advanced degree from a US university. The new rule will not be applicable this year as 2026's registration quota has already been reached. US tech workers have welcomed the proposed changes as they think the changes will eliminate the possibility of U companies hiring foreign workers for posts that don't need high skills, as H-1B should be -- but they hire only to save money as they will have to pay less wage to a foreigner than a US citizen.

Understanding weightage-based selection

This is the same rule that the Trump administration wanted to bring in during the last term. “USCIS will rank and select the petitions received on the basis of the highest Occupational Employment Statistics wage level that the proffered wage equals or exceeds for the relevant Standard Occupational Classification code in the area of intended employment, beginning with OES wage level IV and proceeding in descending order with OES wage levels III, II, and I.” (The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program is within the Department of Labor.)" the 2021 DHS rule said.

What does this mean?

This means there will be no H-1B hiring at the entry level. Entry-level jobs will be protected for Americans.

Based on the wages and expertise needed for a job, there are four levels: Entry, qualified, experienced and fully competent.

The national average of entry-level salary is $83K, level 2 is $108K, level 3 is $127K and level 4 is $151K.

International grads will suffer, senior American employees will face competition

International graduates looking for entry-level jobs in America will suffer as they will not get a chance in the proposed system. While this is good news for American graduates, the new rule has bad news for senior American leadership as the new system will bring in more high-paid mid-level H-1Bs. Startups will also suffer as they won't be able to hire cheap labor from H-1Bs.