The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has released details on how the H-1B visa cap process will work for fiscal year 2027, including when the registration window will open, how applications will be selected, and what employers need to have in place ahead of time.
The announcement gives companies an early look at the timeline and signals what to expect as demand for high skilled foreign workers continues to outpace the available visas.
USCIS said the initial registration window for the fiscal year 2027 H-1B cap will run from March 4 at noon Eastern Time through March 19 at noon Eastern Time. Employers planning to file cap-subject H-1B petitions must submit an electronic registration for each prospective worker through a USCIS online account during that period.
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Each registration will require a $215 fee per beneficiary. USCIS said it expects to inform employers of the selection results by March 31, with notifications sent through the online accounts used to submit the registrations.
USCIS also stressed that all H-1B cap registrations must be filed through its electronic registration system. Employers that do not yet have a USCIS account will need to set up an organisational account before they can participate.
Attorneys and authorised representatives can add employer clients at any time, but beneficiary details and the required fee can only be submitted once the registration window opens on March 4. After the window closes, the agency will conduct the selection process and notify employers whose beneficiaries are picked.
For the fiscal year 2027 cap season, the Department of Homeland Security has changed how H-1B registrations will be selected. USCIS said the revised system is meant to give greater weight to applicants with higher skill levels and higher wages.
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The agency said the shift is intended to safeguard the pay, working conditions, and job prospects of U.S. workers. If registrations exceed the annual visa limit, USCIS will no longer rely on a purely random lottery and will instead use a weighted selection process drawn from properly submitted registrations.
USCIS also referenced a September 2025 proclamation issued by Donald Trump titled “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers.”
The agency said the proclamation does not alter the electronic registration process itself, but it could affect costs later in the process. Employers whose registrations are selected and who qualify to file an H-1B petition may be required to pay an additional $100,000 fee before submitting the petition, depending on how the proclamation applies to them.