USCIS Announces H-1B Cap Registration Period for March 2026
On January 30, 2026, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the online registration period for H-1B quota selection for the upcoming fiscal year will begin on Wednesday, March 4, at 12:00 noon ET and will run through 12:00 noon ET on Thursday, March 19. The FY 2027 H-1B quota is for H-1B registrations filed with USCIS in March 2026, with H-1B petitions for selected individuals filed beginning in April 2026 and a start date of October 1, 2026, or later.
Each electronic registration submission will require a nonrefundable $215 registration fee.
The main change to the H-1B registration process this year is that USCIS has implemented a weighted lottery system, which will give higher-paid applicants a greater chance of selection. The weighted selection process applies to all cap‑subject H‑1B registrations, including the 65,000 regular cap and the 20,000 master’s cap selections. Please see our client alert for more information about the weighted lottery system.
Assuming that USCIS receives more registrations than the allotted number of 85,000 available H-1B petitions, USCIS will conduct a computer-generated lottery among all registrations. USCIS intends to complete its process of notifying employers of selected H-1B registrants by March 31. Employers with selected cases will then be eligible to file an H-1B petition with USCIS within a designated 90-day period following registration selection. As mentioned above, approved H-1B petitions will be effective on October 1, 2026 — the start of the government’s FY 2027 — or later.
Finally, employers should be aware that a subset of H-1B beneficiaries will be subject to the $100,000 fee for H-1B workers implemented by the September 19, 2025, presidential proclamation titled “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers.”
The $100,000 fee is only applicable to new H-1B petitions:
- For beneficiaries who are outside the United States and do not have a valid H-1B visa; or
- For any H-1B petition that requests consular notification, port-of-entry notification, or pre-flight inspection for a beneficiary who is in the United States.
The $100,000 fee does not apply to any H-1B petitions for beneficiaries who are in the United States and are being sponsored for, and are ultimately approved for, an H-1B amendment, change of status, or extension of stay. For more information, visit our alert on the H-1B $100,000 fee.
Please contact your Mintz Immigration attorney if you have any questions.
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