Sharing a major update on the FY 2027 H-1B Cap Initial Registration Period, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services released a new bulletin on Friday, Jan 30 (US time). As per the latest announcement, the aspiring visa petitioners should mark March 4 and March 19 on their calendars as important dates related to the new season.
The new announcement this week shares not only information related to the registration process, but it also incorporates new policy changes under the Donald Trump administration, including the new weighted selection process and the $100,000 H-1B fee.
Imp dates for FY 2027 H-1B cap initial registration
The registration period for the fiscal year 2027 H-1B cap will open at noon Eastern on March 4 and run through noon Eastern March 19, 2026.
About the H-1B cap initial registration process
According to USCIS’ announcement, prospective H-1B cap-subject petitioners and representatives must use a USCIS online account to register each beneficiary for the selection process. A $215 H-1B registration fee must be paid for each registration.
As an H-1B petitioning employer without a USCIS online account, you must first create an organisation account. Thereafter, company clients can be added to their accounts at any time. However, both representatives and employers must wait until March 4 to enter beneficiary information and submit registrations along with the associated $215 fee.
Selection for the new batch will kick off after the initial registration period closes. The USCIS has further revealed that selection notifications could be sent by March 31, 2026m via the same USCIS online accounts to prospective petitioners and representatives who have at least one registration selected.
“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,” the official news release added.
H-1B registrations impacted by new Trump admin changes
The fresh USCIS bulletin goes on to highlight what’s “new for the FY 2027 Cap Season.” Consequently, it lists out a final rule the Department of Homeland Security published last year, thereby amending the regulations determining the selection process for H-1B registrations.
Alluding to the new weighted selection process replacing the random lottery system, the USCIS stated, “The new H-1B selection process prioritizes allocating visas to higher-skilled and higher-paid aliens to better protect the wages, working conditions, and job opportunities of American workers,”
“For the FY 2027 H-1B cap season, if we receive registrations for unique beneficiaries during the initial registration period that exceed the cap, we will conduct a weighted selection from the unique beneficiaries with properly submitted registrations. If we do not receive registrations for enough unique beneficiaries, we will select all registrations for unique beneficiaries that were properly submitted in the initial registration period.”
Back in September, US President Donald Trump’s proclamation titled “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers” worked as yet another major step in the H-1B overhaul.
“While the proclamation does not directly impact the electronic registration process, if a petitioner has their registration selected and is eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition, they may need to pay an additional $100,000 fee before filing the H-1B petition as a condition of eligibility,” the new announcement highlighted.