H-1B Cap Season: Registration, Weighted Selection, and Filing Requirements

The Cap Numbers

Congress set the regular annual H-1B cap at 65,000 new statuses or visas per fiscal year. Within that 65,000, up to 6,800 visas are set aside annually for the H-1B1 program under the US–Chile and US–Singapore free trade agreements. Any H-1B1 slots that go unused roll over to the following year's regular H-1B cap.

A separate 20,000-petition exemption exists for beneficiaries who have earned a master's degree or higher from a US institution of higher education. These petitions are filed as part of the cap process but do not count against the 65,000 regular cap. In years where USCIS receives enough registrations to project the regular cap will be filled before the advanced degree exemption is exhausted, all 20,000 advanced-degree slots can effectively be used.

H-1B extension petitions are never subject to the cap — only initial grants of H-1B status consume cap numbers.

Cap-Exempt Employers and Situations

The following petitions are not subject to the annual cap:

• Petitions filed by US institutions of higher education;
• Petitions filed by nonprofit entities affiliated with or related to a qualifying institution of higher education;
• Petitions filed by nonprofit research organizations;
• Petitions filed by government research organizations;
• H-1B workers performing labor in the CNMI or Guam, if the petition is filed before December 31, 2029 (per the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008);
• Petitions for individuals who have already been counted against the cap and are changing to a new H-1B employer within the same H-1B period — they have already "used" a cap number and changing employers does not require a new one.

FY 2027 Weighted Selection: How It Works

Starting with the FY 2027 cap cycle (first applied in March 2026), USCIS implemented a weighted selection process under a final rule published December 23, 2025, effective February 27, 2026. When the number of properly submitted registrations exceeds what USCIS projects is needed to fill the cap, a random selection is conducted — but beneficiaries are not entered into the pool equally. The selection weight depends on the highest OEWS (Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics) wage level that the beneficiary's proffered wage equals or exceeds for the relevant SOC code in the area of intended employment.

A Level IV beneficiary (proffered wage at or above the 75th OEWS percentile for the SOC code and area) has four times the selection probability of a Level I beneficiary (whose wage is below or equal to the 25th percentile). Each unique beneficiary is still only counted once toward the numerical allocation projection regardless of how many times they appear in the pool — the multiplier affects selection odds, not double-counting.

If multiple employers register the same beneficiary, all registrants for that beneficiary receive a selection notice if the beneficiary is selected. Each may then independently decide to file a petition for that beneficiary.

Wage Level Determination Rules

• Select the highest OEWS wage level that the proffered wage equals or exceeds for the relevant SOC code in the area of intended employment.
• If the proffered wage is below OEWS Level I (because the prevailing wage source is not OEWS but another legitimate source or independent authoritative source), register at "Level I."
• If the beneficiary will work at multiple locations, select the lowest OEWS level that the wage equals or exceeds across all those locations.
• If the proffered wage is expressed as a range, select the level that the lowest wage in the range equals or exceeds.
• If no current OEWS prevailing wage information exists for the position, use DOL's prevailing wage guidance to determine the corresponding level.

The Electronic Registration Process

Prospective H-1B cap-subject petitioners must register each beneficiary electronically through a USCIS online account before filing any petition. USCIS runs the selection process after the registration period closes — selecting does not happen in real time during the registration window. For FY 2027, the registration window ran March 4 through March 19, 2026. The $215 registration fee applies per submission per beneficiary.

Registrants must attest, under penalty of perjury, that:

• All information in the registration is complete, true, and correct;
• The registration reflects a bona fide job offer;
• The registrant is offering the beneficiary a salary at or above the OEWS wage level selected for the SOC code and area of intended employment; and
• The registrant has not worked with any other registrant, petitioner, agent, or individual to submit a registration that unfairly increases selection chances for that beneficiary.

A false attestation renders the registration improperly submitted, and any petition based on it can be denied or its approval revoked. USCIS may also refer the matter to federal law enforcement.

When to File the H-1B Cap Petition

USCIS begins accepting H-1B cap petitions and associated I-907 premium processing requests on April 1 of each year, through its online system for registrants with selected beneficiaries. Petitions may not be filed more than six months before the employment start date. The petition must indicate a start date of October 1 or later of the applicable fiscal year — petitions with earlier start dates will be rejected or denied.

USCIS may issue additional registration selection notices ("lottery 2," "lottery 3") after the initial round if early projections suggest the cap will not be reached with only the first-round selected registrations. Second-round selections have historically happened in late spring or summer of the fiscal year before the cap year. Registrants with beneficiaries not initially selected should monitor their accounts through at least September 30 of the registration fiscal year.

What Must Be in the Petition

A properly assembled H-1B cap petition must include:

• Form I-129 (current version), fully completed including the H Classification Supplement and H-1B Data Collection and Filing Fee Exemption Supplement;
• Copy of the H-1B Registration Selection Notice for the registration filed by your organization for this beneficiary;
• Beneficiary Confirmation Number entered on the H Classification Supplement (Page 13, Question 5);
• Evidence of the basis of the wage level selected on the registration as of the date that registration was submitted;
• Copy of the beneficiary's passport or travel document used at the time of registration. If the passport has since expired and been replaced, documentation for both passports should be submitted — the one used at registration and the current one — with an explanation for the change;
• DOL-certified LCA (Form ETA-9035/9035E) for the position;
• For petitions subject to the Presidential Proclamation: proof from Pay.gov that the $100,000 payment has been scheduled, or evidence of an exception from the Secretary of Homeland Security.

SOC Code and Wage Level Consistency

The SOC code must be consistent across the electronic registration, the LCA, and the I-129 petition. The proffered wage in the petition must equal or exceed the prevailing wage corresponding to the OEWS wage level that was selected at registration for the SOC code in the area of intended employment.

If the SOC code or wage level on the petition does not match the registration, the petition must include an explanation with supporting documentation as to why. USCIS recommends flagging such discrepancies with a brightly colored coversheet so they are reviewed immediately upon receipt.

Paper vs. Online Filing

As of the FY 2027 cap season, USCIS began accepting online filing of I-129 H-1B cap petitions and associated I-907 requests through myaccount.uscis.gov. Online filing is the preferred method. Petitioners who prefer to file on paper may still submit a paper I-129 to the correct filing address — see the USCIS Direct Filing Addresses for Form I-129 page. Paper-filed Forms I-129 and I-907 cannot be linked to an online account; that combination must be tracked manually.

Historical Registration and Selection Data (FY 2021–2026)

Note: Eligible registrations exclude duplicates, registrations deleted by employers before the period closed, those denied for invalid passport/travel document information, and those with failed payments.

The FY 2024 spike to nearly 781,000 total registrations — largely driven by abuse of the multi-registrant system — prompted the shift to the beneficiary-centric selection process implemented for FY 2025. The FY 2025 and FY 2026 cycles show the effect: multi-registration abuse collapsed, with FY 2026 showing only 7,828 registrations for beneficiaries with multiple submissions (versus 408,891 in FY 2024). The FY 2027 weighted selection rule adds a further structural change on top of this already-transformed landscape.

Program Integrity Measures

Each registrant who submits a registration attests under penalty of perjury to the accuracy of all information, to a bona fide job offer, to paying at or above the attested wage level, and to not coordinating with others to inflate selection odds. USCIS has the authority to deny or revoke petitions based on registrations that contained false attestations — meaning a petition that was fully assembled and filed can still be invalidated if the underlying registration is later found to have been fraudulently submitted.

USCIS will also find registrations "not properly submitted" if they provide invalid passport or travel document information (including placeholder entries such as "NA" or "00000"). Registrations with invalid passport data are excluded from selection.

Frequently Asked Questions