How the H-1B lottery and cap work

The H-1B is the main route for a specialty-occupation worker to be employed in the United States, and for most employers it begins with a lottery that lasts about two weeks in March. The mechanics changed in a way that matters: selection is no longer a flat random draw among all registrations.

The two caps

Congress caps H-1B visas at 65,000 a fiscal year, with a further 20,000 reserved for beneficiaries holding a US master's degree or higher, the advanced-degree exemption often called the master's cap. USCIS states both figures on its registration page, and for fiscal year 2027 the agency has received enough petitions to reach both.

The fiscal year runs from October 1, so a registration filed in March 2026 was for employment beginning October 1, 2026.

The registration window

For FY 2027 the initial registration period opened at noon Eastern on March 4 and ran to 5:00 p.m. Eastern on March 19. The employer, not the worker, registers, and the fee is $215 for each registration.

A registration is short: the employer's details, the beneficiary's details, and the wage information described below. The full petition, with the supporting evidence, is filed only if the registration is selected.

The wage-weighted selection

This is the substantive change. USCIS says that where a random selection process is necessary, it conducts a weighted selection among properly submitted registrations for unique beneficiaries, based generally on the highest Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics wage level that the beneficiary's proffered wage will equal or exceed.

Registrants must provide that wage level: the highest OEWS level the offered wage meets, for the relevant Standard Occupational Classification code in the area or areas of intended employment.

The practical effect is that two registrations for the same occupation in the same city no longer have identical odds if one offers a wage at a higher OEWS level. The salary on the registration is now a factor in selection, not only a compliance requirement for the later petition. Employers who set offers close to a wage-level boundary have a reason to look at which side of it they fall on, and candidates have a reason to ask.

"Unique beneficiaries"

The weighting is applied per beneficiary rather than per registration. That reflects an earlier reform aimed at multiple registrations filed for the same person by related employers to multiply their chances. Selection now runs on the person, so extra registrations for the same beneficiary do not multiply the odds; each employer still pays its own fee.

Who is outside the cap altogether

The numerical limits do not apply to everyone. Institutions of higher education and related or affiliated non-profit entities, non-profit research organizations and government research organizations can file cap-exempt petitions at any time of year. Extensions, amendments and transfers for a worker who already holds cap-subject H-1B status are also outside the cap.

That is why the announcement that a cap has been reached, as it now has for FY 2027, does not end H-1B filing for the year. It ends cap-subject filing.

What happens after selection

A selected registration gives the employer a filing window to submit the full petition, with the labor condition application, evidence that the role is a specialty occupation and that the beneficiary is qualified for it. Selection is not approval; a petition can still be denied on the merits.

The H-1B tracker carries the FY 2027 rules as USCIS published them, and will carry the FY 2028 window when the agency announces it, expected early in 2027.