USCIS Announces FY2027 H-1B Cap Reached: No Second Lottery to Be Conducted

By Angel Feng, John F. Quill

On July 17, 2026, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has received enough H-1B petitions to reach the congressionally mandated cap of 85,000 new H-1B filings for Calendar Year 2026 (FY2027). As a result, USCIS will not conduct a second lottery selection for H-1B cap–subject petitions this year.

Any H-1B registration not selected in the draw that was conducted in March 2026 will not be eligible to file an H-1B cap petition for FY2027. The next opportunity to sponsor an individual under the H-1B cap will be in March 2027 for the FY2028 cap.

USCIS received approximately 211,600 unique beneficiary registrations, which was significantly lower than the 336,153 registrations submitted in March 2025 for the FY2026 lottery. Employers had until June 30, 2026 to submit petitions for selected beneficiaries. Because USCIS received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to fill the FY2027 quota, there will be no second lottery this year.

If you have any questions regarding H-1B cap registration or the USCIS lottery process, please contact your Mintz Immigration attorney.

 

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    Angel Feng

    Angel Feng

    Special Counsel

    Angel Feng is a Special Counsel at Mintz whose practice focuses on immigration matters. She counsels corporations and their employees on the processing of nonimmigrant and immigrant visa petitions, including H-1B, L-1A, L-1B, E-3, TN, P-1, O-1, E-1, E-2, PERM, EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3.
    John F. Quill

    John F. Quill

    Member / Chair, Immigration Practice

    John’s practice encompasses all aspects of immigration and nationality law. John draws on over two decades of experience to help companies and their employees obtain nonimmigrant visas, including B, E, H, J, L, O, and TN visas. He also handles applications for PERM labor certification; extraordinary ability, outstanding researcher, and national interest waiver petitions; adjustment of status procedures; consular processing; and naturalization.