Are master's students still exempt from the H-1B wage weights in 2026?
If you recently graduated with a US Master's degree , you might assume you are protected from the brutal new 2026 H-1B wage-weighted lottery. You are not. While the 20,000 advanced degree quota remains intact, the Department of Homeland Security has subjected it to the exact same pay-to-play multiplier system. For years, international students pursuing a Master's degree in the United States relied on the " Master's Cap ." This provision gave individuals with a US advanced degree an extra 20,000 dedicated H-1B visa slots, effectively granting them a second spin of the roulette wheel and significantly higher overall selection odds than bachelor's degree holders. With DHS 's implementation of the wage-weighted selection process in February 2026, a dangerous rumor has spread across university campuses: "The wage tiers only apply to the regular cap. Master's students are exempt." This is mathematically and legally false. Here is how the Master...