Skilled workers choosing between the US and Canada in 2026 are weighing two very different systems: a lottery that grants temporary status with no guaranteed path to permanence, against a points-based queue that leads directly to permanent residence. 2025’s changes to H-1B costs have made that comparison sharper than it’s been in years. Here’s how they actually stack up.
The core structural difference
H-1B is a temporary work visa. Even if selected and approved, it grants up to six years of status (3 + 3-year extension) with no automatic route to a green card — that requires a separate, often years-long employer-sponsored petition (PERM, then I-140, then waiting for a priority date).
Express Entry is a permanent residence system. A profile that scores high enough on the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) gets an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for one of three federal programs — Federal Skilled Worker (FSW), Canadian Experience Class (CEC), or Federal Skilled Trades — and, once approved, grants PR directly, not a renewable temporary status.
That difference alone reframes the comparison: H-1B answers “can I work in the US soon,” Express Entry answers “can I settle in Canada permanently.”
Selection odds and mechanics
H-1B is capped at 65,000 regular visas plus 20,000 for US master’s-degree holders each fiscal year, allocated by lottery among registrants each March. Being selected is a matter of chance, not qualification — a highly qualified applicant can simply not be picked, and can re-enter next year’s lottery with no advantage carried forward.
Express Entry has no lottery. It’s a transparent points queue: build a profile, get a CRS score based on age, education, language test results (IELTS/CELPIP), work experience, and (often decisively) a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) nomination or a valid Canadian job offer, then wait for your score to clear the cutoff in a regular draw. A strong profile can predict its own odds; a weak one can improve them (retake language tests, get a PNP nomination) rather than just re-rolling the dice.
2026 cost comparison
This is where the gap has widened the most. As of a September 2025 US presidential proclamation, new H-1B petitions filed for a beneficiary who is outside the US and doesn’t already hold a valid H-1B visa carry a $100,000 supplemental proclamation fee, on top of the existing filing fees (I-129, roughly $1,015–1,615 depending on employer size, plus a $600 or $300 Asylum Program Fee). That fee is paid by the employer, but it has already reshaped which companies bother sponsoring new H-1B hires from abroad.
Canada’s comparable temporary route — an employer-specific work permit, or the open work permit policy that has periodically let existing H-1B holders move to Canada without a new job offer — runs a small fraction of that cost: government filing fees in the low hundreds of Canadian dollars, not six figures. Express Entry itself (the PR track) charges application and right-of-permanent-residence fees in the same low-thousands-of-dollars range as US employment-based green card filings, without an equivalent lump-sum surcharge.
Processing time comparison (2026)
- H-1B: registration in March, petition filing after selection, standard USCIS processing that can run several months (premium processing, at an added fee, compresses adjudication to about 15 business days) — but the visa itself is only ever temporary status.
- Express Entry: the official service standard is about 6 months from Invitation to Apply to a final decision for most streams (Canadian Experience Class historically the fastest, Federal Skilled Worker and PNP-linked applications slightly longer) — and that decision is a green-card equivalent, not a renewable permit. End-to-end, from initial profile to PR card in hand, commonly runs 8–14 months, faster in periods when Canada’s application backlog is low.
Comparing “months to a visa” against “months to permanent residence” isn’t apples to apples — but for someone whose actual goal is to settle long-term, Express Entry’s timeline-to-permanence usually beats H-1B’s timeline-to-a-renewable-temporary-status once green-card sponsorship is factored in.
Which fits which applicant
- Choose H-1B if: you have a specific US employer ready to sponsor you, US market pay and career paths matter more than immigration certainty, and you’re willing to accept lottery odds and (for your employer) the new cost.
- Choose Express Entry if: permanent settlement is the actual goal, you can build a competitive CRS profile (strong language scores, a skilled-trade or in-demand occupation, or a PNP nomination), and you’d rather have a predictable points system than a lottery.
- Many applicants pursue both — an H-1B holder can build an Express Entry profile in parallel, and Canada’s periodic H-1B-holder open work permit policies have specifically targeted this overlap; check IRCC’s current policy status before assuming it’s active, since it has opened and closed intermittently.
FAQ
Does an H-1B denial or non-selection affect an Express Entry application? No — they’re entirely separate immigration systems with no shared record affecting eligibility for the other.
Can I hold H-1B status and immigrate to Canada at the same time? Yes. Many applicants maintain US work status while an Express Entry profile is active, since Express Entry doesn’t require you to be physically present in Canada during the application process for most streams.
Is Express Entry harder to qualify for than H-1B? Different, not necessarily harder — H-1B has no minimum “score,” just a job offer and a lucky lottery draw; Express Entry requires a competitive CRS score but guarantees selection once you clear the cutoff.
For H-1B mechanics in full, see our H-1B visa guide. For building a competitive Canadian profile, see our Express Entry CRS score guide and Express Entry work permit guide. VisaMet isn’t a law firm — always confirm current fees, caps, and processing times with USCIS or IRCC before deciding. If you’d like help comparing your options, join the VisaMet waitlist.