The Donald Trump administration on Tuesday proposed to make changes to the H-1B visa selection process to favour workers who are higher-skilled and better-paid, showed a Federal Register notice.

If the proposal is finalised, it will set up a new process giving more weightage to applications by employers who pay high wages if annual requests for the visas exceed the annual 85,000 statutory limit, according to the notice.

The change is aimed at helping protect US citizens from unfair wage competition from foreign workers, it added.

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The proposal came four days after the White House published a proclamation on Friday asking companies to pay a one-time $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa applicants. The order took effect on Saturday.

Prior to this, companies were paying $215 to register for the H-1B visa lottery, in addition to several filing fees.

H-1B visas allow companies in the US to temporarily employ foreign workers for special occupations.

Over the past few years, Indians have constituted the majority of H-1B visa holders. Indians comprised 72.3% of all H-1B visas issued by the US in the financial year 2022-’23.

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The notice issued on Tuesday proposes to change the existing visa lottery process by creating wage tiers in which higher-paying jobs would have a better chance of being selected.

The process to finalise a regulation can take several months or years, Reuters reported.

However, the proposal indicated that the changes could be implemented in the 2026 lottery or before the March registration period.

The total wages paid to H-1B workers would increase to $502 million in the US financial year 2025-’26, which begins on October 1 and more than $1 billion in the next fiscal year, the notice said, citing estimates from the US Department of Homeland Security.

The public will have 30 days to comment on the proposal published by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.