By Melany Savitt, Alan Perkins, Melina LaMorticella, and Corinne Brooks
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that H-1B registrations for the FY2027 cap season will open at noon Eastern on March 4, 2026, and will run through noon Eastern on March 19, 2026. The USCIS filing fee remains the same as last year, $215 per registration. Selection notifications from USCIS should come through by March 31, 2026.
Feel free to contact us soon so we can help you evaluate your H-1B needs for this cap season.
New for FY2027 Cap Season
- Weighted Selection: This year, USCIS will select registrations based on a wage-weighted selection process. For details, please see our news alert here: DHS Finalizes H-1B Weighted Selection Rule with No Changes.
- $100,000 H-1B Fee: The new $100,000 H-1B fee will apply to H-1B petitions approved for new employment that request consular, port of entry, or pre-flight inspection notification. Please see our news alert for further details describing additional scenarios when the $100,000 H-1B fee may apply: USCIS Provides Clarification on H-1B $100,000 Fee.
Registration Details
Registration requires employers to have a USCIS account and basic employer and beneficiary data including whether the beneficiary holds a U.S. advanced degree and wage level analysis.
Only one registration per employer/individual beneficiary combination is permitted. If there are more registrations than available under the annual H-1B quota, USCIS will conduct a random lottery selection, with the number of entries weighted by the salary offer, as referenced above.
Post-Registration Period
The lottery will be held shortly after registration closes, and USCIS should notify those selected by March 31. If selected in the lottery, employers will have up to 90 days to file an H-1B petition starting April 1, 2026.
Additional wait list registration selections may occur throughout the year until the quota is reached for the fiscal year.
Next Steps
We recommend employers review hiring needs as soon as possible to determine if new H-1B petitions will need to be filed under the FY2027 cap for employment start dates no earlier than October 1, 2026. We recommend considering the following example classifications and scenarios:
- Foreign national F-1 and J-1 students
- TN USMCA professionals
- L-1B specialized knowledge transferees
- E-3 Australian specialty occupation professionals
- Individuals with certain types of employment authorization documents (EADs)
- Change of employer H-1B petitions for candidates working for cap exempt entities
H-1B Annual Quota Details
All “new” H-1B petitions are subject to an annual quota, or cap, of 65,000 regular H-1B visas, and an additional 20,000 H-1B visas reserved for holders of advanced degrees (master’s or higher) from accredited U.S. universities. New cap H-1B petitions are generally required for individuals previously not counted against the cap (with limited exceptions).
New cap H-1B petitions are not required for H-1B extensions and most H-1B changes of employer.
This client alert is prepared for the general information of our clients and friends. It should not be regarded as legal advice. If you have any questions regarding this update, or for more information about this topic, please contact any of the attorneys in our Business Immigration Practice Group, or the attorney with whom you normally consult.
