The USCIS announced that the initial registration period for the fiscal year 2026 H-1B cap will open at noon Eastern on March 7 and run through noon Eastern on March 24, 2025. During this period, prospective petitioners and representatives must use a USCIS online account to register each beneficiary electronically for the selection process and pay the associated registration fee for each beneficiary. The page will be updated with additional information on the FY 2026 H-1B cap in the coming weeks.
Prospective petitioners seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions, including for beneficiaries eligible for the advanced degree exemption, must first electronically register and pay the associated H-1B registration fee for each prospective beneficiary. See Fee Schedule, Form G-1055.
The electronic registration process streamlines processing by reducing paperwork and data exchange and provides overall cost savings to employers seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions.
Under this process, prospective petitioners (also known as registrants), and their authorized representatives, who are seeking to employ H-1B workers subject to the cap, complete a registration process that requires basic information about the prospective petitioner and each requested worker. The initial registration period is for a minimum of 14 calendar days each fiscal year. The H-1B selection process is then run on properly submitted electronic registrations. Only those with selected registrations are eligible to file H-1B cap-subject petitions.
On Jan. 30, 2024, USCIS announced a final rule to strengthen integrity and reduce the potential for fraud in the H-1B registration process, including by ensuring each beneficiary would have the same chance of being selected, regardless of the number of registrations submitted on their behalf. The final rule created a beneficiary-centric selection process for registrations by employers, codified start date flexibility for certain petitions subject to the congressionally mandated H-1B cap, and added more integrity measures related to the registration process.
Under the beneficiary-centric process, registrations are selected by unique beneficiary rather than by registration. The final rule went into effect on March 4, 2024, and applied to the fiscal year (FY) 2025 registration process. Starting with the FY 2025 initial registration period, USCIS is requiring registrants to provide valid passport information or valid travel document information for each beneficiary. The passport or travel document provided must be the one the beneficiary, if or when abroad, intends to use to enter the United States if issued an H-1B visa. Each beneficiary must only be registered under one passport or travel document. Only those with selected registrations are eligible to file H-1B cap-subject petitions. For additional information on the passport or valid travel document requirement, please see the Frequently Asked Questions section below.
Selections take place after the initial registration period closes, so there is no requirement to register on the day the initial registration period opens.
FY 2025 H-1B Cap Registration Process Update
As was announced on April 1, 2024, the USCIS received enough electronic registrations during the initial registration period to reach the fiscal year 2025 H-1B numerical allocations (H-1B cap), including the advanced degree exemption, also known as the master’s cap.
The USCIS selected 114,017 beneficiaries, resulting in 120,603 selected registrations in the initial selection for the FY 2025 H-1B cap.
Also, the USCIS subsequently announced that, they would need to select additional registrations for unique beneficiaries to reach the FY 2025 regular cap numerical allocations. The USCIS selected 13,607 beneficiaries in the second selection for the FY 2025 H-1B regular cap, resulting in 14,534 selected registrations.
As announced on December 2, 2024, the USCIS have 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 2025.
During the registration period for the FY 2025 H-1B cap, the USCIS saw a significant decrease in the total number of registrations submitted compared to FY 2024, including a decrease in the number of registrations submitted on behalf of beneficiaries with multiple registrations.
The number of unique beneficiaries this year for FY 2025 (approximately 442,000) was comparable to the number last year for FY 2024 (approximately 446,000).
The number of unique employers this year for FY 2025 (approximately 52,700) was also comparable to the number last year for FY 2024 (approximately 52,000).
The number of eligible registrations, however, was down dramatically for FY 2025 (470,342) compared with FY 2024 (758,994) — a 38.6% reduction.
Overall, the USCIS saw an average of 1.06 registrations per beneficiary this year in FY 2025, compared to 1.70 for FY 2024.
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