&gt; Granting H1 to top salaries mean only big companies will be able to afford these visas.<p>No, it means only very profitable companies will be able to afford top talent.  That&#x27;s the idea.<p>&gt; What happens to an H1 holder that starts off in a 200k position and wants to leave to a 150k+equity position?<p>It doesn&#x27;t have to be based on a single form of compensation.  You could adjust for equity based compensation and adjust the lower limit accordingly.  Even if you didn&#x27;t adjust for equity based compensation, you&#x27;d be far better off than the current lottery based system.