ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): The US Department of Homeland Security has announced a major overhaul of the H-1B work visa selection system.
This change could dramatically reshape the future of thousands of highly skilled Pakistani professionals seeking careers in America.
The decision directly impacts IT experts, software engineers, data scientists, cybersecurity specialists, doctors, engineers, and technical professionals from Pakistan, many of whom have long relied on sheer luck to secure an H-1B visa despite world-class skills and international experience.
Under new rules, H-1B visas will no longer be awarded solely through random lottery selection. Instead, higher skills and higher salaries will now take center stage.
According to DHS, applicants offered senior-level roles and higher wages will receive clear preference over lower-paid or entry-level positions.
This final rule will officially take effect on February 27, 2026, and will be implemented starting with the Fiscal Year 2027 H-1B registration season.
Immigration experts are calling it a decisive turning point for skilled workers from Pakistan.
Each year, thousands of Pakistani professionals apply for H-1B visas, but until now, the system treated elite talent and beginners exactly the same.
With applications far exceeding the annual visa cap, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) was forced to conduct a completely random lottery, a process heavily criticized for years.
US officials admit the old system unintentionally favored employers offering lower wages, allowing them to flood the lottery with applications and undermining the original purpose of the H-1B program.
For Pakistan, this meant top-tier professionals often lost out, while lower-paid roles dominated the selection pool.
The new policy seeks to correct this imbalance by directly tying visa selection to wage levels and skill demand, using official U.S. Department of Labor data.
Under the revised system, higher-wage applications will be entered into the selection pool multiple times. Lower-wage applications will be entered fewer times. Selection will be weighted, not random.
For Pakistani candidates, this means one thing, which is better salary offer significantly increases the chances of selection.
