38.5% drop in H-1B registrations for FY 2027: Immigration attorney says numbers were like this 10 years ago

The USCIS published the details of the H-1B FY 2027 lottery as the season comes to a close and celebrated the 38.5% drop in the registration, attributing it to President Donald Trump’s America First policies. In a year, the number of registrations dropped from 343,981 in fiscal year 2026 to just 211,600 in fiscal year 2027. “This data is a clear sign that the days of abusing the program with mass, low-wage registrations are over, and that the program is better serving its intended purpose of attracting highly skilled foreign workers and protecting the wages, working conditions, and job opportunities of American workers,” the agency said.On wage-based selection which was introduced for the first time this year, replacing the random lottery, the agency said it approved more applicants with advanced degrees and higher salaries and prioritized those who studied at US universities. “An overwhelming 71.5% of selected aliens hold a U.S. master’s degree or higher, compared to 57% last year,” the agency said.“These skilled workers are making a real impact on our economy and we’re closing the door on the low-wage and low-skilled foreign labor pipeline approved under Biden administration policies. This year, only 17.7% of all selected registrations were in the lowest wage category,” the USCIS said.The release of these numbers are what H-1B applicants and firms handling these applications look forward to as they forecast whether there would be a second and third lottery in case the H-1B quota does not get filled in the first round of the lottery.Immigration attorney Emily Neumann said the number of registrations that were submitted this year is almost the same as the number 10 years ago. But it is mostly because of the $100,000 fee that Trump imposed on applications from outside the US. “The 38.5% drop from last year is likely just those beneficiaries who are outside the United States and therefore subject to the $100,000 Trump fee,” Neumann said.“Since implementing the electronic lottery, USCIS has selected an average of 127,843 registrations each year to fill the 85,000 slots (not counting 2024 which had a much higher number selected). That would suggest that this year’s selection rate should be close to 60%,” Neumann projected.