H-1B visa registrations drop 38.5% in FY 2027

Registrations for H-1B visas dropped by 38.5 per cent in fiscal year 2027, with the US saying it had approved more applicants with advanced degrees and higher salaries of those “making a real impact on the economy.”

The decision by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is likely to affect the Indians the most, who made up an estimated 71 per cent of all approved H-1B applications in recent years. In a post on X on Thursday, the USCIS said only 17.7 per cent of all selected registrations were in the lowest wage category.

“The number of properly submitted registrations plummeted by 38.5 per cent, from 3,43,981 in fiscal year 2026 to just 2,11,600 in fiscal year 2027,” the USCIS said.

Nearly three-fourths of the applications approved were of persons holding master's degrees or higher, the USCIS said. “We’re approving more applicants with advanced degrees and higher salaries – especially those who studied at US universities. An overwhelming 71.5 per cent of selected aliens hold a US master’s degree or higher, compared to 57 per cent last year,” it said.

It said these skilled workers are making a real impact on the economy and the US was closing the door on the low-wage and low-skilled foreign labour pipeline approved under Biden administration policies. “This year, only 17.7 per cent of all selected registrations were in the lowest wage category,” the USCIS said.

“This data is a clear sign that the days of abusing the programme with mass, low-wage registrations are over, and that the programme is better serving its intended purpose of attracting highly skilled foreign workers and protecting the wages, working conditions, and job opportunities of American workers,” it said.

The USCIS said President Donald Trump’s policies of placing America First were displaying results.

“These changes are all good, in the sense of being less bad — but only the real solution is to abolish the H-1B programme altogether (along with OPT, and more),” Mark Krikorian, Executive Director, Center for Immigration Studies, said in a post on X.

Indians make up an estimated 71 per cent of all approved H-1B applications in recent years, according to the USCIS data, with China in the second spot. The major fields include technology, engineering, medicine, and research.