By Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and Cognizant have sharply reduced their H-1B lottery registrations for the fiscal year 2027 cycle, with Cognizant submitting no registrations at all, according to a Congressional Research Service report published on 14 October. The report, titled “H-1B Executive Actions in 2026”, identifies the fall as evidence that companies which previously entered large numbers of candidates into the lottery are now submitting significantly fewer entries.
The declines are stark: Cognizant’s registrations fell by 100 per cent, Infosys by 91 per cent and TCS by 95 per cent compared with the previous year. The CRS report does not establish that the immigration crackdown alone caused the decline, nor does it explain the individual decisions made by the three companies. The report was covered by ET Online on 19 October 2026.
What changed in the H-1B process
Two fee changes stand out. In September 2025, the Trump administration introduced a $100,000 fee for US employers petitioning to bring certain new H-1B workers from abroad. That fee was in effect for most of the following year but is temporarily blocked amid ongoing litigation. Separately, in August 2026, the Department of Homeland Security proposed a fee of $103,265 for each H-1B petition subject to the annual visa cap. The two fees are distinct.
The Department of Labour has also proposed raising the minimum wages employers must offer H-1B workers, with wage benchmarks increased at all four skill levels. The proposed wage changes could increase employers’ costs by about $1.46 billion in the first year. The US has additionally changed how candidates are selected in the lottery, with selection now favouring higher-paid workers.
Why “over 100 per cent” needs explaining
A decline cannot mathematically exceed 100 per cent. When sources describe Cognizant’s decline as 100 per cent, they mean the company went from some positive number of registrations to zero. For Infosys and TCS, the 91 per cent and 95 per cent figures mean the current year’s registrations are a small fraction of the previous year’s total. The raw registration counts are not provided in the available research, so the exact numerical comparison cannot be stated.
This matters for HR and payroll teams in India because the H-1B route has historically been a core part of how Indian IT companies staff US client sites. A 91 to 95 per cent reduction in lottery entries suggests a structural shift rather than a one-off adjustment. The CRS report itself stops short of attributing the decline solely to policy changes, which leaves room for business strategy to be part of the explanation.
What this means for Indian employers and workers
For Indian IT companies, the immediate effect is a smaller pipeline of US-bound employees on new H-1B visas. That shifts workforce planning toward local US hiring, nearshore delivery centres in countries such as Mexico and Canada, and greater reliance on existing visa holders already in the United States. Payroll teams should expect more complex cross-border arrangements as companies mix US local hires with India-based delivery teams.
For Indian engineering graduates and current IT employees, the practical question is whether the H-1B route remains viable. The lottery now favours higher-paid workers, which means entry-level and mid-level candidates face longer odds. The fee increases also make employers more selective about who they sponsor. The research does not provide updated lottery odds for individual applicants, so readers should treat any specific probability claims with caution.
The green card backlog for Indian nationals remains a separate but related constraint. The available research does not give current backlog figures, so no specific number can be stated here. What is clear is that the combination of higher fees, wage rule proposals and lottery changes has made the H-1B programme more expensive and less predictable for Indian IT employers.
Deadlines and practical steps
The H-1B lottery registration window and selection dates for the relevant fiscal years are not specified in the available research. HR teams should confirm the current USCIS filing calendar directly, as dates shift from year to year. The $100,000 fee is temporarily blocked amid litigation, which means its future application is uncertain. The $103,265 fee remains a proposal and is not yet in force.
Employers with H-1B-dependent workforces should review their current visa holder population and identify who may need extensions or amendments. Payroll teams should model the cost impact of the proposed wage changes, since the $1.46 billion first-year cost estimate suggests significant per-petition increases. Companies should also evaluate whether L-1 intracompany transfer visas or other categories offer a workable alternative for specific roles, though the research does not provide comparative data on those options.
The CRS report does not quantify the financial impact on Infosys, TCS or Cognizant individually. Readers should treat the percentage declines as directional evidence of a broader retreat from bulk H-1B lottery participation, not as a complete picture of each company’s US workforce strategy.
Sources: ETHRWorld
Photo: Genes-10-00194-g005-btm by Mike Dyall-Smith, Peter Palm, Gerhard Wanner, Angela Witte, , CC BY 4.0
