USCIS reaches H-1B visa cap for Fiscal Year 2026

Welcome to the U.S. immigration news briefing from Corporate Immigration Partners, PC (CIP PC). The team is here to provide the latest updates on policy changes affecting corporate immigration. This blog covers the FY 2026 H-1B CAP registration process, petition filing details, and key requirements announced by USCIS.

On March 31, 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has received enough registrations to meet the H-1B CAP Fiscal Year 2026. This includes the advanced degree exemption or Master’s CAP.

H-1B CAP Lottery, is a lottery process where USCIS randomly selects enough beneficiaries with properly submitted registrations. Selected beneficiaries may file their H-1B CAP petition with USCIS starting April 1, 2025.

An H-1B cap-subject petition has an option to either file the petition at the correct filing location or online at my.uscis.gov and within the filing period indicated on the relevant selection notice. The period for filing the H-1B cap-subject petition will be at least 90 days. Petitioners must include a copy of the applicable selection notice with the FY 2026 H-1B cap-subject petition. Petitioners must also submit evidence of the beneficiary’s valid passport or travel document used at the time of registration to identify the beneficiary.

This chart shows registration and selection numbers for fiscal years 2021-2025:

*The number of initial selections for FY 2024 – 110, 791 – was smaller than in prior years primarily due to (a) establishing a higher anticipated petition filing rate by selected registrants based on prior years; and (b) higher projected Department of State approvals of H-1B1 visas, which count against the H-1B cap. 

**The number of initial selections for FY 2025 – 120,603 – was smaller than in prior years, primarily due to establishing a higher anticipated petition filing rate based on the beneficiary-centric selection process (that is, selection by unique beneficiary). USCIS selected the number of unique beneficiaries projected as needed to reach the congressionally mandated caps and exemptions. All properly submitted registrations for those beneficiaries that were selected were set to a selected status. Accordingly, the number of selected registrations was higher than the number of selected beneficiaries and this number is not completely comparable to prior years that used a direct registration selection method.

Don’t Miss an Update

Envoy Global’s top-tier immigration management platform helps HR and mobility professionals deliver comprehensive immigration support worldwide. CIP PC, a leading employment-based immigration law firm and an affiliate of Envoy Global, offers tailored assistance to U.S. employers of all sizes and industries.

Stay informed on the latest U.S. immigration changes by subscribing to our newsletter for updates and global immigration news.