On January 30, 2026, USCIS announced the dates for the upcoming H-1B visa cap registration window. The window will open at noon ET (9am PT) on Wednesday March 4, 2026 and will close at noon ET (9am PT) on Thursday March 19, 2026. The registration fee will remain $215.
The selection process will be conducted following the close of the registration period, and account holders will be notified of selected registrations by March 31, 2026.
USCIS’ announcement notes two new developments for the FY 2027 cap season: the new wage-weighted selection process and President Trump’s $100,000 fee. As noted in our prior posts:
- In the new wage-weighted selection process, each registered foreign national will be entered in the lottery a number of times consistent with the “prevailing wage” level their salary offer meets or exceeds in the DOL system. Foreign nationals with a salary offer that reaches Level IV in DOL’s system would receive 4 entries; foreign nationals with a salary offer reaching Level III would receive 3 entries; and so on. It is possible that the new system will be stopped by court order or postponed by USCIS if implementation is not technically feasible, but prudent registrants will proceed as if the new system will be in place by the start of the filing window.
- If a registration is selected in the lottery, USCIS has confirmed that the $100,000 fee will not apply to the subsequently filed H-1B petition, if the petition requests a change of status for a foreign national who is inside the United States, and the beneficiary is granted that request. So, employers sponsoring international students in F-1 status with OPT, or foreign nationals with another work-authorized visa status, will not have to pay the fee, as long as the change of status request is approved. The fee will apply if the foreign national is outside the United States and does not already have a valid H1B visa, the petition requests consular notification, or a change of status request cannot be approved by USCIS.
This year’s cap will continue to use the beneficiary-centric selection process, launched in FY 2025, in which registrations are selected by unique beneficiary, rather than by registration.
Chris Beckerson © Jewell Stewart Pratt Beckerson & Carr PC 2026
