On Friday, March 7 at 12:00 ET, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will open registrations for H-1B cap employment in FY 2026. At noon ET on Monday, March 24, the registration period will end. The organization will once more use an H-1B cap registration procedure that is focused on the beneficiary.
USCIS is going to adopt a beneficiary-centric registration system for the second year in a row, rather than a registration-centric one. In order for a foreign national to file an H-1B cap registration on their behalf under the beneficiary-centric approach, they must have a valid passport or other travel document. As the foreign national’s unique identification, the passport or travel document will be utilized to choose them in the H-1B cap lottery. The H-1B cap lottery selection method will only include one entry per foreign national, regardless of the number of registrations they submitted. Each prospective employer who registered on the beneficiary’s behalf will be informed and qualified to submit an H-1B cap petition on the beneficiary’s behalf if a foreign national is chosen.
USCIS will hold two cap lotteries to choose the beneficiaries on whose behalf H-1B cap petitions may be submitted following the conclusion of the registration period. Every enrolled H-1B beneficiary will be included in the first lottery. In order to reach the usual H-1B ceiling of 65,000, USCIS will use this lottery to choose enough recipients. All registered master’s cap beneficiaries who weren’t chosen in the first lottery will be included in the second lottery. In order to reach the H-1B cap exemption of 20,000 for holders of advanced degrees earned in the United States, USCIS will use this lottery to choose enough beneficiaries. If the number of H-1B petitions received for unique beneficiaries from the first lotteries is not enough to reach the FY 2026 quota, then subsequent lotteries may be held.
By March 31, USCIS will share the lottery results with immigration attorneys and employers. When a foreign national is selected as a beneficiary, USCIS will inform all employers who registered on their behalf of the foreign national’s lottery selection. An H-1B petition may be submitted by any employer on behalf of that foreign national. H-1B cap petitions on behalf of lottery selectees should be accepted by USCIS starting on April 1, 2025. No sooner than June 30, 2025, should be the deadline for filing the petition. The precise date of the petition filing period’s expiration will be specified by USCIS in cap selection notices. During the specified filing period, all FY 2026 H-1B cap petitions for beneficiaries chosen in the first lottery must be filed.
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Sincerely,
Luke Bowman
The Law offices of Luke Bowman