The H1B Lottery Now Favors Higher Pay. Set Your Data Hire's Offer Early.

The H1B lottery changed this year

For years every H1B registration had the same odds. A company put in one registration per person and USCIS drew names at random. That ended with the 2027 season. DHS published a final rule on December 29, 2025 that took effect on February 27, 2026, and the March 4 to March 19 registration window in 2026 was the first one to use it.

Under the new rule, each registration goes into the pool a number of times based on the wage level of the job offer. Level IV goes in four times. Level III goes in three times. Level II goes in twice. Level I goes in once. The level is the highest Department of Labor wage level that the offered wage equals or beats for that job code in the area where the person will work.

This matters to Oklahoma employers hiring data engineers, analysts and data scientists. Some candidates in a data search are recent graduates on student status or people working for another sponsor. If your plan for a hire depends on a new H1B, the offer now affects whether you get to file at all.

What the odds look like now

DHS says that under the old random draw, the chance of selection was just under 30 percent. It estimated that under weighted selection the chance rises to over 61 percent for Level IV and over 45 percent for Level III. Lower levels go the other way. DHS projected 10,099 fewer Level I workers under the new system.

Small companies should pay close attention. In its own analysis, DHS found that 61 percent of petitions filed by small entities were at wage Level I. A lot of Oklahoma companies that hire one or two sponsored data people a year fit that description.

Demand is still high. USCIS reported 343,981 eligible registrations for the 2026 season and selected 120,141 of them. The yearly cap is 65,000, plus 20,000 more for people with a United States master's degree or higher. USCIS announced on July 17, 2026 that it had reached both caps for 2027.

Why data roles need care

Data jobs do not all sit under one job code. A data engineer, a database administrator and a data scientist can each fall under different codes with different wage levels. The level also depends on the area of intended employment, so Oklahoma City and Tulsa have their own numbers. If the job can be done in more than one place, the rule uses the lowest level among those places.

For a sense of scale, DHS reported national median H1B pay in computer and math jobs for 2024 at $89,253 for Level I, $106,000 for Level II, $140,000 for Level III and $163,257 for Level IV. Local levels in Oklahoma are different, so look them up in the Department of Labor wage search for your job code and county before you set the offer.

The wage rules did not start with the lottery

Sponsoring a worker already came with a pay floor. USCIS explains that the employer files a Labor Condition Application with the Department of Labor and promises to pay at least the wage paid to similarly qualified workers, or the prevailing wage for the area if that is higher. The new lottery adds a second reason to get the number right early, because the same wage now shapes the odds.

DHS estimated the rule adds about 20 minutes of work per registration and about 15 minutes per petition. The time is small. The thinking behind it is not. Someone has to pick the job code, match it to the real duties and confirm the level against the local wage data. That is easier to do in November than in the first week of March.

Talk to the candidate early too. Explain that the offer, the start date and the sponsorship all depend on a draw you do not control. People take this better when they hear it up front, and it helps you both plan a backup if the name is not picked.

The $100,000 payment is still in court

A presidential proclamation signed on September 19, 2025 added a $100,000 payment to certain new H1B petitions filed on or after September 21, 2025. USCIS says it applies to people outside the United States without a valid H1B visa. It does not apply when a petition asks for a change of status or an extension for someone already in the country and that request is granted.

On June 8, 2026 a federal court in Massachusetts vacated the guidance that put the payment in place, and on July 24, 2026 the appeals court denied the government's request to pause that order. USCIS says DHS will comply for now but still plans to collect the payment if the order is lifted. Plan your budget both ways and ask counsel where things stand before you file.

What to settle before the next registration

1. 1Decide which open data roles you are willing to sponsor and which candidates would need a new H1B.
2. 2Pick the right job code for each role with your immigration attorney, based on the real duties.
3. 3Look up the local wage levels for that code in the Department of Labor wage search for the county where the person will work.
4. 4Set the offer and decide which wage level you can honestly pay and keep paying.
5. 5Budget for the registration fee, which was $215 for the 2027 season, plus filing fees and legal fees, and plan for the $100,000 payment in case the court order is lifted.
6. 6Submit only one registration per person. USCIS invalidates all of them if an employer registers the same person more than once.
7. 7Check whether you are cap exempt. Universities, their affiliated nonprofits and certain research groups are not subject to the cap and are not affected by the weighted lottery.
8. 8Plan a backup if the person is not selected, so the role does not sit empty for a year.

Do this in the fall or early winter. USCIS says registration typically opens in March, and cap petitions must ask for a start date of October 1 or later in that fiscal year. DHS has not published dates for the next window yet, so watch the USCIS cap season page.

What this means if you run a company in Oklahoma

Not every Oklahoma employer can match top national pay for data roles, and many do not need to. The weighted lottery makes that harder for sponsored hires at Level I. That does not mean you should stop sponsoring. It means the offer, the job code and the budget need to be settled early and on paper, with counsel, so you are not guessing during a two week window in March.

At Oklahoma Data Partners, we work only with data and only in Oklahoma. We help Oklahoma employers plan data hires, write clear job scopes and set offers that match the local market. We are not immigration lawyers and we bring in counsel for visa questions. If you want help planning your next data hire, book a consultation.