Mapped: Where H1-B hires are concentrated, as visa lottery opens with new rules

Today is the start of the annual H-1B lottery, and this year’s process could look very different under the Trump administration’s restrictive new rules. 

H-1B represents the largest visa pool for people hoping to immigrate to the United States. It’s designed for specialized talent, and often used in sectors like tech and healthcare. By bringing skilled workers into the United States, it has long been an essential contributor to local economies, especially in regions with large tech workforces like Silicon Valley, as well as Northern Virginia and DC. 

H-1B visas are primarily handled through a lottery system, and companies will begin registering for that lottery today to be able to hire workers this upcoming fiscal year, following a slower application year.

Trump’s announcement last fall that he was instituting a $100,000 fee for new H-1B visas generated a lot of confusion and lawsuits, but as of now it still stands. The petition is the actual application for the visa, which can only happen after a sponsoring employer gets selected in the lottery. If a petition is denied, the fee is refunded, according to Haley Davidson, head of content at immigration firm Manifest Law, which just released a new study on the topic.  

Registering for the H1-B lottery still costs $215. Registration is capped at 85,000 for private companies only; higher education, nonprofit and government research employers are exempt from this process. 

The system, which used to be random, now weighs lottery registrations based on wages — the higher the wage being offered, the better the chances of getting selected. 

These shifts will likely affect small and new companies the most, according to Davidson.

“Because smaller firms and startups may be less capable of absorbing these new compliance costs,” Davidson told Technical.ly, “local entrepreneurial ecosystems in specialized labor markets could face stifled growth and a reduced ability to scale.”

Plus, certain states and regions rely more on H-1B workers than others. Professional, scientific, technical services sectors accounted for 40% of all H-1B new hires in 2025, so regions with established tech and scientific industries are expected to feel outsized effects, Davidson said.

Once companies are approved to file a petition, there’s still a lengthy application process with little guarantee of approval. 

During the first Trump administration, employers faced increased scrutiny on petitions: Denial rates for new H-1B petitions rose from 7.8% in 2016 to 18.3% in 2018. Before that, rates were in the single digits. Under Biden, they averaged around 3%. 

Denials remained low in Trump’s first year, per the Manifest Law analysis, but the several systemic changes can still disrupt H-1B processes. 

“There are many factors to consider when analyzing the local impact of the H-1B program,” Davidson said, “but the program helps fill demand for specialized talent across the country.”