FY 2027 H‑1B Cap: Initial Registration Period Opens March 4, 2026

During this period, prospective H‑1B cap‑subject petitioners and their representatives must electronically register each beneficiary through a USCIS online account and pay the $215 H‑1B registration fee for each registration.

Registration Process and Account Requirements

• Employers who do not yet have a USCIS organizational account must create one before submitting registrations.
• Representatives may add client organizations at any time, but both employers and representatives must wait until March 4 to enter beneficiary details and submit registrations.
• USCIS will conduct selection after the registration window closes and intends to send selection notifications by March 31, 2026, through users’ online accounts.

A petitioner may file an H‑1B cap‑subject petition — including petitions qualifying for the advanced degree exemption — only if that beneficiary’s registration was selected.

USCIS will update its H‑1B Electronic Registration Process page with new information before the registration window opens.

New for FY 2027: Changes to the H‑1B Selection Process

For FY 2027, the Department of Homeland Security has finalized a rule revising how USCIS selects H‑1B registrations. Key features include:

• USCIS will now conduct selection based on unique beneficiaries, not the number of registrations submitted on their behalf.
• The process is intended to prioritize higher‑skilled and higher‑paid beneficiaries, supporting efforts to protect US workers’ wages and job opportunities.
• If the number of unique beneficiaries exceeds the annual cap, USCIS will conduct a weighted selection from the pool of properly submitted registrations.
• If registrations for unique beneficiaries do not exceed the cap, USCIS will select all properly submitted registrations.

Presidential Proclamation: Additional Fee Requirement

As referenced in USCIS’s announcement, on September 19, 2025, President Trump issued the proclamation “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers.”

While the proclamation does not change the electronic registration process, it may impose an additional $100,000 fee as a condition of eligibility after selection in the H‑1B lottery and before filing the petition.

Petitioners with selected registrations will be required to pay this fee if they fall under the conditions of the proclamation.

Erickson Insights & Analysis

Erickson Immigration Group will continue monitoring developments and sharing updates as more news is available. Please contact your employer or EIG attorney if you have questions about anything we’re reporting above or if you have case-specific questions.