Data / Federal rules / 2025-23853
Weighted Selection Process for Registrants and Petitioners Seeking To File Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions
The Homeland Security Department published this final rule in the Federal Register on December 29, 2025. It took effect on February 27, 2026.
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What the agency says
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is amending its regulations governing the process by which U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) selects H-1B registrations for unique beneficiaries for filing of H-1B cap-subject petitions (or H-1B petitions for any year in which the registration requirement is suspended). Through this rule, DHS is implementing a weighted selection process that will generally favor the allocation of H-1B visas to higher-skilled and higher-paid aliens, while maintaining the opportunity for employers to secure H-1B workers at all wage levels, to better serve the congressional intent for the H-1B program. This rule will be effective in time for the FY 2027 registration season.
Key facts
- Document number
- 2025-23853
- Type
- Final rule
- Action
- Final rule
- Agency
- Homeland Security Department
- Published
- December 29, 2025
- Takes effect
- February 27, 2026
- Dates
- This final rule is effective February 27, 2026.
- Docket
- CIS No. 2847-26; DHS Docket No. USCIS-2025-0040
- Regulation ID (RIN)
- 1615-AD01
- Code of Federal Regulations
- 8 CFR 214
- Topics
- Administrative practice and procedure; Aliens; Cultural exchange programs; Employment; Foreign officials; Health professions; Reporting and recordkeeping requirements; Students
- Significant
- Yes, under Executive Order 12866
- Pages
- 104
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Everything from the Homeland Security Department · Rules on administrative practice and procedure · Rules on aliens · Rules on cultural exchange programs · Published in December 2025
Read from the Federal Register API, last updated 2026-10-23. The document on federalregister.gov is the official record; dates and dockets can change through later corrections. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0.