Immigrants from all over the world look forward to working and settling in the US. The US issues visas that allow immigrants to stay, work, or study based on their unique categories.
And to manage the issuance of visas, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is the federal agency that oversees lawful immigration to the United States.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services new fiscal year has officially started today.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) fiscal year begins on October 1 every year and ends on September 30 of the following year. The new USCIS fiscal year begins October 1, 2025 and ends on September 30, 2026.
For many categories, USCIS had already announced that the visa cap for the fiscal year 2026 has been reached. And, the reset of caps will happen from October 1, 2025.
The importance of USCIS fiscal year is huge for immigrants. The USCIS fiscal year, which is the period when annual visa quotas are reset and made available, begins on October 1st and ends on September 30th of the following year.
Family-Sponsored Preference Immigrants
The fiscal year 2026 limit for family-sponsored preference immigrants determined in accordance with Section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) is 226,000. The worldwide level for annual employment-based preference immigrants is at least 140,000.
The per-country limit for preference immigrants is set at 7% of the total annual family-sponsored and employment-based preference limits, i.e., 25,620. The dependent area limit is set at 2%, or 7,320.
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EB-2 Visas
One is eligible for an employment-based, second preference visa if they are a member of the profession holding an advanced degree or its equivalent, or a person who has exceptional ability.
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) limits the number of employment-based preference immigrant visas that may be issued within a fiscal year. Specifically, INA 203(b)(2) provides that the annual limit for EB-2 visas is 28.6 percent of the worldwide employment limit.
Since all available EB-2 visas for FY 2025 have been used, embassies and consulates may not issue visas in these categories for the remainder of the fiscal year 2025.
The annual limits have now been reset with the start of the new fiscal year (FY 2026) on October 1, 2025. At that point, embassies and consulates may resume issuing immigrant visas in this category to qualified applicants.
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H-1B Visas
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa U.S. advanced degree exemption, known as the master’s cap, for fiscal year 2026.
USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap. Petitions filed for current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap, and who still retain their cap number, are exempt from the FY 2026 H-1B cap. USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions filed to:
Extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the United States;
Change the terms of employment for current H-1B workers;
Allow current H-1B workers to change employers; and
Allow current H-1B workers to work concurrently in additional H-1B positions.
For all H-1B petitions filed after September 21, the US employer has to pay $100,000 fee before hiring any foreign worker.
H-2B Visas
H-2B non-agricultural temporary worker program to allow U.S. employers to bring foreign workers to the United States to fill temporary nonagricultural jobs.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had received enough petitions to meet the congressionally established H-2B cap for the first half of fiscal year 2026. September 12 was the final receipt date for new cap-subject H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date before April 1, 2026.
Currently, Congress has set the H-2B cap at 66,000 per fiscal year, with 33,000 for workers who begin employment in the first half of the fiscal year (Oct. 1 – March 31) and 33,000 for workers who begin employment in the second half of the fiscal year (April 1 – Sep. 30).
Any unused numbers from the first half of the fiscal year will be available for employers seeking to hire H-2B workers during the second half of the fiscal year. Unused H-2B numbers from one fiscal year do not carry over into the next fiscal year.