U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that the initial registration period for the fiscal year (FY) 2027 H-1B cap will open at noon ET on March 4, 2026 and run through noon ET on March 19, 2026. During this time, employers and their legal representatives must register each beneficiary through their USCIS online account and pay the $215 registration fee. The number of H-1B visas available each fiscal year (October 1 to September 30) is limited to 65,000 for the Regular H-1B cap, plus an additional 20,000 for candidates with a master’s or higher degree from a U.S. university (U.S. Master’s cap), for a total of 85,000. Over the past several years USCIS has received significantly more registrations than available H-1B numbers.    

Once the registration period has closed, USCIS will conduct a lottery to select registrations, first under the Regular H-1B cap and then under the U.S. Master’s cap. USCIS intends to send selection notifications by March 31, 2026, via users’ USCIS online accounts to petitioners and representatives who have at least one registration selected.  

For the FY 2027 H-1B cap lottery, USCIS has finalized a new weighted selection process. Under the new selection process, the lottery will no longer be completely random, as the new process prioritizes the allocation of H-1B visas to higher-skilled and higher-paid foreign nationals. The new framework will weigh entries based on the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) wage levels I-IV. Registrations assigned to wage level IV will enter the H-1B lottery pool four times, while level III will enter three times, level II twice, and level I once. As a result of the new selection process, USCIS will require additional data during the H-1B registration process, including the proffered wage, Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) occupational code, and employment area. 

Petitioners with selected registrations may proceed with filing H-1B petitions during the designated filing period, likely April 1, 2026, through June 30, 2026. If selected, USCIS now permits a requested start date on or after October 1, so long as it is within six months of the petition filing.   

Properly submitted registrations that are not selected in the initial lottery rounds will remain in the system as valid registrations with their statuses designated as “Submitted” for the remainder of the fiscal year. These remaining submissions will be available for selection in the future if the current fiscal year cap reopens. The cap could reopen if a high number of registrations do not result in actual filings with USCIS during the 90-day filing window or if submitted H-1B petitions are denied.  

Petitioners should be mindful of the Proclamation issued by President Trump on September 19, 2025, requiring the payment of $100,000 as a condition of eligibility for certain H-1B petitions. While the Proclamation does not impact the H-1B lottery registration process, certain H-1B petitions may be subject to the additional fee. USCIS has issued guidance regarding which H-1B petitions filed on or after September 21, 2025 are subject to the $100,000 payment. The $100,000 penalty does not apply where the H‑1B petition is filed as a change of status while the employees are in the United States in valid U.S. immigration status (such as F-1 Students, TN, L-1, E-1, E-2 nonimmigration visa status) at the time of filing and through to the approval of the case. The imposition of this fee on petitions filed on behalf of candidates outside the United States may serve to reduce the number of registrations for those individuals.  

The new weighted selection process is expected to be challenged in court, which may delay or prevent its implementation. Foster LLP will continue to monitor updates regarding the weighted selection process, the $100,000 H-1B visa fee and the FY 2027 H-1B cap filing season and will make future updates available via our firm website at www.fosterglobal.com.