The H-1B visa no longer attracts as much talent: Most are granted to professionals within the U.S., not abroad

For years, the H-1B visa was presented as the gateway for foreign talent into the United States. But an analysis by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) would reveal a different reality: the system is no longer focused on attracting workers from abroad, but on selecting—and now prioritizing—those who are already inside the country. With recent changes that favor higher salaries and a new model centered on identified beneficiaries, the H-1B may be consolidating a quiet transformation: from a tool for global labor attraction to a mechanism for internally retaining migrant talent.