FY 2026 H-1B CAP INITIAL REGISTRATION PERIOD OPENS MARCH 7
On February 5, 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the initial registration period for the fiscal year 2026 H-1B cap season will begin at noon ET on March 7, 2025, and close at noon ET on March 24, 2025. During this time, prospective petitioners and representatives must use a USCIS online account to electronically register each beneficiary for the selection process and pay a $215 registration fee.
Key highlights from the announcement:
USCIS Online Accounts: H-1B petitioning employers without a USCIS online account must create an organizational account. Employers who had an H-1B registrant account for FY 2021–2024 but did not use it for FY 2025 will have their accounts converted to organizational accounts upon their next login. First-time registrants can create an account anytime. Updated FAQs with FY 2026 details will be available before the registration period begins.
Beneficiary-Centric Selection Process: USCIS will continue using the beneficiary-based selection system introduced in FY 2025. If enough unique beneficiary registrations are received by March 24, USCIS will randomly select beneficiaries and notify users via their USCIS online accounts. If the total number of unique beneficiary registrations is insufficient, all properly submitted registrations will be selected. Prospective petitioners and representatives with at least one selected registration will be notified by March 31.
Increased Credit Card Transaction Limit: The Department of the Treasury has temporarily raised the daily credit card transaction limit from $24,999.99 to $99,999.99 for the FY 2026 H-1B cap season due to high transaction volumes in previous years. Transactions exceeding $99,999.99 may be completed via Automated Clearing House (ACH).
USCIS also announced that for FY 2026, it will introduce 'multiple enhancements' to organizational and representative accounts for H-1B filing, set to launch before the initial registration period begins, including:
Allowing paralegals to assist multiple legal representatives.
Simplifying the process for legal representatives to add paralegals to company accounts.
Pre-populating certain Form I-129 fields from selected H-1B registrations.
The option to create a spreadsheet of H-1B beneficiary data and upload it to pre-fill information in H-1B registrations.
To view updates, visit USCIS alert.
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