H-1B visa selection rate has been increasing over the years, despite a fall in the number of registrations. In a study conducted by Ogletree Deakins, the numbers for the fiscal year 2026 H-1B cap reveal a selection rate of approximately 35 percent compared to 29 percent in FY 2025.
The number of eligible H-1B registrations decreased by 26.9 percent from 470,342 in FY 2025 to 343,981 in FY 2026. Also, the number of unique beneficiaries significantly decreased from 423,038 in FY 2025 to 336,153 in FY 2026.
The average registration per beneficiary slightly decreased from 1.06 in FY 2025 to 1.01, indicating an average of one submitted registration per beneficiary.
This shows that there has been an increase in the selection rate from approximately 29 percent in FY 2025 to approximately 35 percent.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) selected 120,141 out of 336,153 eligible H-1B cap registrations for beneficiaries with no other eligible ones, resulting in a selection rate of around 35%.
Since the approximate 24.8 percent selection rate in FY 2024, the selection rate has been trending upward, reaching approximately 29 percent in FY 2025 and approximately 35 percent in FY 2026, reflecting roughly a 5 percent increase each year, according to Ogletree Deakins in their study.
The decrease in H-1B applications for 2026 is primarily due to USCIS’s implementation of a beneficiary-centric selection process. Under the beneficiary-centric selection process for H-1B registrations, instead of selecting by registration, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will select registrations by unique beneficiary.
First implemented in 2024, the beneficiary-centric selection process for H-1B registrations is expected to minimize gaming, increase selection chances, and ensure equal selection for all beneficiaries.
The H-1B petition filing window for chosen registrants is April 1–June 30, 2025. USCIS may hold a second lottery if it does not receive enough H-1B petitions during the filing period to reach the H-1B annual limit. Whether there will be more selection rounds for FY 2026 has not yet been disclosed by USCIS.
