H-1B visa program’s initial registration period for the fiscal year 2027 cap season is open now. Registration for the H-1B cap season 2027 will begin on March 4 at noon Eastern Time, and the deadline is March 19, 2026, at noon Eastern.
The selection process for H-1B visas will start after the H-1B cap season 2027 initial registration period ends on March 19. Thereafter, prospective petitioners and representatives who have at least one registration chosen through their USCIS online accounts will receive selection notifications from USCIS by March 3.
Registration Period
The initial registration period is for a minimum of 14 calendar days each fiscal year. The initial registration period for the H-1B cap season 2027 will be open for 15 days.
H-1B petitioning employers without a USCIS online account are required to create an organizational account. Between March 4 and March 19, prospective H-1B cap-subject petitioners and representatives have to use a USCIS online account to register each beneficiary electronically for the selection process and pay the associated $215 H-1B registration fee for each registration.
A petitioner may only file an H-1B cap-subject petition, including a petition for a beneficiary who is eligible for the advanced degree exemption, if their registration for the beneficiary of the cap-subject petition was selected in the H-1B registration process.
Wage-Based Selection
A significant modification for the H-1B Cap in the FY 2027 season is the substitution of the lottery system with a new wage-based selection process. The new Wage-Based selection process aims to prioritise foreign workers with higher skills and higher wages.
In the H-1B cap season 2027, for H-1B jobs, there will be a four-level structure that will be determined by the worker’s experience and the demands of the position. New hires are put at Level 1, seasoned workers at Level 2, fully qualified professionals at Level 3, and specialists or senior-level professionals at Level 4.
It is estimated that the percentage change in probability of being selected to file an H-1B cap-subject petition from the current to the new process will decrease by 48 percent for level I and will increase by 3 percent, 55 percent, and 107 percent for level II, level III, and level IV, respectively.
New $100,000 Fee
The FY 2027 H-1B cap season requires US employers to pay a one-time fee of $100,000 for each selected foreign worker petition. However, F-1 students and H-1B visa holders, who are out of a job, but currently in the US, are exempt from the $100k fee.
The US laws permit non-immigrants, specifically F-1 visa holders, to change their status to H-1B visas. Additionally, foreign students in the OPT program can be employed by US employers through this status change.
What If Less Demand
The imposition of a $100k petition fee could make employers rework their costs in hiring foreign workers. This significant increase means the cost of an H-1B visa has risen from under $10,000 to over $100,000, effective September 21, 2025.
Only about 70 employers have paid a $100,000 Trump fee on H-1B workers since it was imposed through a September White House proclamation, a government attorney said to Bloomberg.
The rules are clear on the selection process if enough demand is not met. If USCIS does not receive registrations for enough unique beneficiaries, it will select all registrations for unique beneficiaries that were properly submitted in the initial registration period.
This means USCIS will conduct a weighted selection from the unique beneficiaries with properly submitted registrations, only if it receives registrations for unique beneficiaries during the initial registration period that exceed the cap for the FY 2027 H-1B cap season.
The annual statutory cap for H-1B visas, mandated by Congress, is 65,000, with an additional 20,000 visas for individuals who hold a master’s or higher degree from a US institution, totaling 85,000 visas available to foreigners each year.
Meanwhile, several lawsuits have been filed, and court hearings are underway against the imposition of the $100,000 H-1B petition fee.