We believe more needs to be done to educate the general public, business, chambers of commerce, economic development leaders, policymakers and others about the economic contributions of international students and J-exchange visitors and the economic costs of the proposed H-1B Weighted Selection process.
On September 24, 2025, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a proposed rule to change how it conducts the annual H-1B lottery for specialty occupations. Under the current system, DHS allocates the 85,000 capped H-1B visas for private employers annually authorized by U.S. law through two random lotteries conducted each year. The first lottery includes all registered H-1B petitions to allocate 65,000 H-1B visas, and then a second lottery for the 20,000 H-1B visas reserved for applicants who have earned a U.S. master’s degree and above.
The proposed rule would give applicants whose wages fall into higher Wage Levels additional chances to be selected in each lottery round. DHS contends that this “weighting” approach will incentivize employers to offer higher wages or to petition only for positions requiring higher skills and higher skilled immigrants, that are commensurate with higher wage levels.
Unfortunately, the proposal seeks to bastardize a Wage Level framework designed to enforce prevailing wage requirements and turn it into a mechanism for selecting “the best and brightest” applicants. Technical analyses of prior H-1B applications suggest this revised system will benefit large IT outsourcing firms—many of whom are engaged in business practices that many believe undercut U.S. workers—and will bias the H-1B visa program against international students and younger talent who are critical to America’s innovation economy, national security and global competitiveness.
The Weighted Selection Process for H-1B visas Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) was posted for public inspection on September 24, 2025, and comments about this rule are due by Friday, October 24, 2025.
Understanding the Rule
Because the number of applications received each year for the H-1B program far exceeds the 85,000 visas made available under U.S. law, the federal government has developed a lottery system. In reality, two lotteries are conducted. The first allocates 65,000 visas available to all registered applicants. After that lottery is completed, a second lottery for any remaining applicants who have obtained an advanced degree from a U.S. institution (master’s degree or higher) is conducted to allocate 20,000 additional visas reserved for these advanced degree holders from U.S. institutions.
To prevent undercutting domestic workers, the H-1B program requires all such positions to be paid at or above the “prevailing wage” for their occupation and geographical area. To ensure compliance with these provisions, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) developed a Wage Level framework. To operationalize this, DOL uses the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey to distinguish between four distinct Wage Levels, intended to approximate the relative seniority of the offered position within a given occupation. The four Wage Levels are Level I (“entry”), Level II (“qualified”), Level III (“experienced”), and Level IV (“fully competent”).
DHS’s proposed rule would offer workers at OEWS Wage Level IV four chances in the lottery, workers at Wage Level III three chances, workers at Wage Level II two chances, and workers at Wage Level I one chance.
In this way, DHS proposes to use a system developed to ensure that wages for a specific position meet prevailing wages into a proxy to ensure that the H-1B program prioritizes higher-skilled and higher-paid immigrants.
Talking points on the Duration of Status issue
The Proposed Rule Benefits Large IT Outsourcing Firms
An analysis conducted by the Institute for Progress on H-1B applications from 2021-2024 using the new proposed weighting system indicates that large IT outsourcing firms (Wipro, Infosys, Tata, Cognizant, etc.) would actually gain under the rule, receiving 8% more visas, because they systematically register mid-career workers classified at higher Wage Levels despite paying comparatively low salaries.
The Proposed Rule Disadvantages International Students Trained at U.S. Colleges and Universities
An analysis conducted by the Institute for Progress on H-1B applications from 2021-2024 using the new proposed weighting system indicates that would cut visas to F-1 graduates by 7%. A compensation-ranking would increase their share by 7%. The rule would decrease the number of H-1B visas awarded to international student graduates despite the fact that international students graduating from American universities earn higher salaries on average than other H-1B workers. But because these international student graduates are early-career, they are overwhelmingly classified at the lowest Wage Levels. The proposed rule will have ripple effects on the economy by deterring international students from attending U.S. colleges and universities, spending valuable dollars in our economy, contributing to U.S. innovation and providing the source of future high-skilled STEM talent needed to ensure America’s global leadership in innovation and competitiveness.
The Proposed Methodology Is Flawed
The proposed rule seeks to use Wage Level methodology developed to ensure that prevailing wages are paid within specific occupations, as a tool to prioritize higher skill levels and to raise wages. But past H-1B data show many H-1B applications that are certified as Level IV (the highest level of certification) pay salaries far below the median American wage, while some Level II jobs are among the best-paid in the economy. The ranking system would thus favor companies sponsoring older workers with longer seniority, even in lower-skill jobs, over genuinely high-wage, high-skill roles.
Prepare and File Comments
By October 24
The proposed rule offers a 30-day comment period ending on October 24, 2025. Comments must be filed by then. All are welcome to comment, not only U.S. citizens. Comments can be filed here:
Draft Comments
Cut-and-Paste
Below is a list of potential comments for you to cut-and-paste into a set of comments from you and your organization. Ideally, your comments will reflect you and your organization’s experience, and how the rule is expected to impact your organization and stakeholders.
Sample comment for Michigan filers
This sample comment includes Michigan-based data.
Sample comment for those outside Michigan
This sample comment includes supportive text and links to assist you in inserting data relevant to your state or community.
Institute for Progress' Sign-on Letter
The Institute for Progress is leading an effort to submit a group sign-on letter concerning the DHS proposal to institute a "wage level" lottery for access to H1B status. The letter focuses on the fact that using Wage Levels that were constructed to ensure that H-1B jobs pay prevailing wages is not a good system to accomplish the purported goals of the proposed rule. It also highlights the bias of the rule against international students entering the U.S. job market.
In order to join the letter you must confirm your interest and signatory name via the sign-on form before 12 ET on October 24th.
How to Get Involved
File Comments
The most effective way to oppose the Weighted H-1B proposed rule or to minimize its negative impacts is to file comments with DHS by October 24, 2025. The section on this microsite gives you more details on how to file comments and what those comments might contain. But at this moment, filing comments is the most effective way to oppose these changes. In addition to filing your own comments, you should consider signing onto a joint letter being filed by the Institute for Progress. You can view that letter here and sign-on via this form
Spread the Word
Helo ring awareness to this issue and to raise the profile of the importance that international education and international students represent to America, our local economies and higher education is to write an opinion piece in local papers, business journals, newsletters, blogs, LinkedIn posts, and other social media. If you would like assistance in crafting an opinion piece or otherwise spreading the word, or if you have an opinion piece you want to share, please contact us at info@globaldetroitmi.org.
If you would like to learn more about international students entering your state’s workforce, please visit www.optobservatory.org. Our E Pluribus program would love to assist you in spreading the word about the importance of international students and international education to your state’s economy.
Join the E Pluribus International Student Retention Peer Learning Cohort
Global Detroit’s E Pluribus program supports an International Student Retention National Peer Learning Cohort of nearly three dozen local international student retention programs. These programs are immigrant economic inclusion initiatives, economic development organizations, chambers of commerce, state and municipal offices of New Americans, as well as state and local programs who are focused on connecting international student talent to unmet private sector talent needs. The cohort meets online monthly, conducts webinar, and shares research and best practices, as well as tools to advance local international student retention initiatives. To find out more information and/or join the group email us at info@globaldetroitmi.org.
Make a Donation
Global Detroit is a tax-exempt charitable organization. Our E Pluribus national work currently operates without any dedicated funding. If you want to support this program please contact us or consider a donation at https://globaldetroitmi.org/donate/.
Volunteer
Global Detroit is always looking for volunteers who can help us with our programs. Whether it’s crafting social media posts, doing research, analyzing data, conducting outreach to partner organizations, designing websites and reports or just helping out, we welcome volunteers. Email us at info@globaldetroitmi.org to find out more.
Get Others to File Comments
The purpose of this microsite is to engage important voices that have not traditionally weighed into high-skilled visa policies that impact our economy, international education and international students. Specifically, we hope you will work with E Pluribus to get employers, business groups, chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, state and local government and other voices to file comments opposing this proposed rule.
Host a Webinar
Most Americans, business and economic development leaders and policymakers are unaware of the enormous economic contributions of international education and the talent proposition that graduating international students pose to help fill critical talent gaps. Hosting a webinar to provide data on those contributions, as well as to explain the Weighted H-1B proposed rule, in addition to the recent Duration of Status proposal, can help educate these partners. Global Detroit’s E Pluribus program would love to work with you to help host a webinar to spread information on this proposed rule and/or the importance of international education and international students to our economy. Please contact us if you need assistance.
Get in Touch
Global Detroit and the E Pluribus program would love to hear from you. If you have questions, ideas, requests or just want to talk about these issues, drop us a line at info@globaldetroitmi.org.
Join the U.S. for Success Coalition and/or Other Advocacy Groups
There are other national policies that would negatively impact international education and international students that are being considered right now and working in coalition is one way you can stay informed and help further the cause of supporting international education and international students. The U.S. for Success Coalition is one multi-sector effort that aims to foster international student success in the United States through a coordinated national effort working in partnership with the U.S. government, higher education institutions, the business sector, and other key partners to foster supportive federal policies and practices. You can join the U.S. for Success Coalition at https://www.usforsuccess.org/join-us.