The CHRO Association submitted comments in response to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) proposed changes to the H-1B visa lottery system.
The proposed rule: DHS proposes to change the current lottery—where every petition has an equal chance to be selected —to a weighted system that significantly favors petitions for higher skilled and higher paid workers. According to the DHS, the new weighted system would cut back on frivolous petitions and ensure fairness.
The good: While supporting the Administration’s goal of strengthening program integrity, the Association acknowledged that most member companies file relatively few H-1B petitions for entry-level roles. The majority of petitions are for senior engineers and other experienced professionals whose compensation already meets or exceeds prevailing wage levels—meaning a wage-weighted selection system could, in some cases, work in their favor.
The potentially bad: However, the Association cautioned that replacing the longstanding random lottery with a wage-based system could unintentionally disadvantage employers in critical sectors such as research, health care, education, and emerging technology—fields that rely heavily on entry-level or early-career talent to drive innovation and sustain long-term workforce development.
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The Association emphasized that a one-size-fits-all approach will not work.
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Policymakers should account for differences in company size, industry, and geography when designing H-1B reforms.
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A wage-weighted system, if adopted without safeguards, risks tilting access toward a narrow subset of high-paying employers, limiting opportunity and innovation across the broader U.S. economy.
Legal concerns: The Association also noted that the proposal raises legal and policy concerns, as Congress explicitly required a random selection process under the Immigration Act of 1990. Any change to this statutory framework, the letter argues, must come from Congress, not through administrative rulemaking.
Other recommendations: The comments also urged DHS to focus on modernizing the outdated statutory cap of 85,000 visas, unchanged for more than three decades, and to pursue reforms that expand access to global talent while ensuring fairness and transparency across all employers.
