FY 2026 H-1B Cap Registration: Key Dates and Updates

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced the initial registration period for the FY 2026 H-1B cap, which will open at noon (ET) on March 7, 2025, and close at noon (ET) on March 24, 2025. Employers seeking to sponsor H-1B workers must complete the electronic registration process within this window through the USCIS online system.

The H-1B cap refers to the annual limit on the number of new H-1B visa petitions that the U.S. government approves for highly skilled foreign workers. Each fiscal year, USCIS allocates 65,000 new H-1B visas under the regular cap. An additional 20,000 visas are set aside for individuals who have earned a U.S. master’s degree or higher, known as the advanced degree exemption. 

This year, USCIS will continue to implement the beneficiary-centric selection process introduced in FY 2025. Under this system, each beneficiary is entered into the electronic registration once. Once selected, regardless of the number of registrations submitted on their behalf. This approach aims to reduce multiple registrations for the same individual and promote fairness in the selection process. The beneficiary needs to provide a valid passport or a valid travel document for an H-1B registration. The beneficiary’s passport will be the only document to verify the registration. If an beneficiary submitted multiple passports or travel documents, all registration can be invalidated. 

Also, USCIS will continue to implement myUSCIS organizational account to allow employers to collaboration with their legal representative. Employers who do not yet have a USCIS online account should create an organizational account and add administrator at USCIS website. Employers and their legal representative will be able to draft, review, and sign H-1B cap registration and make payment through USCIS account once the registration window opens. All registration must be submitted by March 24, 2025. 

After the registration period closes, USCIS will conduct a random selection process if the number of registrations exceeds the cap. Employers with selected beneficiaries will be notified through their USCIS online accounts. Only those with selected registrations will be eligible to file an H-1B petition for the FY 2026 cap. It is expected that the employer should be able to submit H-1B petition for selected beneficiary after April 1, within a filing windows of 90 days.