Employers that want to hire a foreign professional on a new H-1B visa usually get one chance a year to begin the process. That chance is an online registration in March. For jobs that begin on or after October 1, 2027 (fiscal year 2028, or FY 2028), registration is expected in March 2027. US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has not yet announced the dates.
What an employer can prepare now depends on whether the yearly limit applies to it, on the wage level of the job, and on where the candidate will be. The wage-level rule changed in 2026, and the payment that affects candidates abroad spent 2026 in the courts.
Key takeaways
- H-1B registration for the FY 2028 cap is expected in March 2027, but USCIS has not yet announced the dates.
- Since February 27, 2026, USCIS has weighted the selection by the wage level of the job offer, so higher-paid jobs get more entries in the draw.
- The $100,000 payment on certain new H-1B petitions is blocked by court orders, and a proposed $103,265 fee has not been finalized.
- An executive order of September 18, 2026, tells federal agencies to consider an employer’s recent or planned layoffs of US workers in similar jobs when they decide its H-1B cases.
What the H-1B cap season is
The H-1B cap season is the yearly cycle in which employers compete for a limited number of new H-1B visas. The H-1B lets a US employer hire a foreign professional in a specialty occupation (a job that requires at least a bachelor’s degree in a specific field), but the law limits how many new H-1B visas can be granted each year. The limit (the cap) is 65,000 new visas a year, plus 20,000 for people with a master’s degree or higher from a US university (the master’s cap).
The cap runs by fiscal year (the federal budget year, from October 1 to September 30), so the registration in March 2027 is for jobs in FY 2028. Because far more candidates are registered than the cap allows, the season starts with an online registration and a selection. For an employer subject to the cap, only a selected registration allows it to file the full petition on Form I-129 (the Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker). The employer registers the candidate, because a candidate cannot register on their own.
Employers and workers outside the cap season
Universities, nonprofits affiliated with or related to a university, and nonprofit or government research organizations are exempt from the cap. They can file for a worker at any time of year, with no registration. A worker who already holds H-1B status and was counted against the cap when first approved is not counted against the cap a second time during that stay, so a new employer can file for that worker without a registration.
When is H-1B registration in 2027?
Registration for the FY 2028 cap is expected in March 2027, but USCIS has not announced the dates. For the last cycle, USCIS announced the dates on January 30, 2026, about five weeks before registration opened. It posts the dates on its H-1B Electronic Registration Process page, which makes that page the one to watch from January.
| Step | FY 2027 cap (registration in March 2026) | FY 2028 cap (registration in March 2027) |
|---|---|---|
| Dates announced | January 30, 2026 | Not yet announced |
| Registration opens | March 4, 2026 | Expected in March 2027 |
| Registration closes | March 19, 2026 | Not yet announced |
| Selection notices sent | By March 31, 2026 | Not yet announced |
| Petitions accepted from | April 1, 2026 | April 1, 2027 at the earliest |
| Earliest H-1B start date | October 1, 2026 | October 1, 2027 |
Last cycle, registration stayed open for about two weeks. USCIS selects only after registration closes, so a registration submitted on the last day has the same chance as one submitted on the first.
The rules that shape this cap season
Two of the four rules below already apply to the FY 2028 season: the weighted selection and the review of layoffs. The $100,000 payment is blocked, and the $103,265 fee is only proposed.
Selection is weighted by the wage level of the job
Since February 27, 2026, USCIS has entered each registration into the selection one to four times, depending on the wage level that the offered salary reaches. The Department of Labor sets four wage levels for each type of job in each area, from Level I (the lowest) to Level IV (the highest). At registration, the employer gives the federal code for the type of job (the SOC code) and the highest level the salary meets in the area of work. If the person will work in more than one area, the lowest of those levels applies.
A Level IV registration is entered four times, Level III three times, Level II twice, and Level I once. The rule first applied to the FY 2027 cycle. A Level I offer can still be selected, with lower odds.
The employer signs each registration under penalty of perjury, certifying that the job offer is real and pays at least the wage for the level stated. The petition must later show how that level was set as of the registration date. The job description decides the SOC code and the salary decides the level, so the employer works out both before registering.
Agencies are told to consider an employer’s layoffs
An executive order signed on September 18, 2026, tells the Departments of State, Labor, and Homeland Security to consider an employer’s layoffs when they handle its H-1B cases. The agencies are to look at layoffs from the past year and planned layoffs that affect US workers in similar jobs. The order applies at every stage, from the labor condition application (the wage filing with the Department of Labor) to the petition, the visa, and entry.
The order also tells the Department of Labor to review labor condition applications already on file. It does not say how much weight a layoff carries or that a layoff leads to a denial, but it makes an employer’s layoffs something the agencies must consider.
The $100,000 payment is blocked by the courts
The $100,000 payment that a September 2025 presidential proclamation attached to certain new H-1B petitions is not being collected. It applied mainly to workers outside the United States who would get their visa at a consulate, and it was due with the petition, not at registration.
In June 2026, a federal court in Massachusetts struck down the agency guidance behind the payment. USCIS says the Department of Homeland Security is complying with that order while the government appeals. A second proclamation then kept the payment requirement in place through September 2027. At the end of September 2026, however, a federal court in California blocked the payment under both proclamations until the agencies complete a formal rulemaking (publishing a proposed rule and taking public comment).
As things stand, USCIS does not collect the $100,000. The filing period that opens in April 2027 falls inside the extension, so for candidates abroad the outcome depends on the appeals and on whether the agencies complete that rulemaking.
A proposed $103,265 fee has not been finalized
In August 2026 the Department of Homeland Security proposed a $103,265 fee on every petition subject to the cap, including petitions under the master’s cap. It would be a separate charge from the $100,000 payment, paid on top of all current fees, and DHS says it would recover part of the cost of running the immigration system. Comments closed in September 2026, and no final rule has been published, so petitions filed today pay only the current fees. If a final rule is published, it will set the amount and the date the fee applies from. Our article on the proposed H-1B fee explains who would pay it.
What employers can prepare before registration opens
The registration asks for facts the employer has to settle first, so these steps come before it opens:
- Decide whom you will register, and check whether your organization is subject to the cap.
- Confirm that each job is a specialty occupation and that the candidate’s degree is in a directly related field. USCIS does not treat a role open to any bachelor’s degree as a specialty occupation.
- Set the wage level from the real offer. The Department of Labor’s wage search shows the four levels for each type of job and area, and the stated level must match the salary and the duties in the petition.
- Set up a USCIS organizational account (the only kind that can submit registrations) and decide whether your staff or an attorney will submit them.
- Collect each candidate’s valid passport details. The registration identifies the candidate by passport, and the petition must later show the same passport.
- Submit one registration per candidate. If one employer registers the same person twice, every registration for that person from that employer is invalid.
- Note where each candidate will be when the petition is filed. A candidate already in the United States can usually switch to H-1B without leaving (a change of status), though a visitor under the Visa Waiver Program cannot do so. A candidate abroad gets the visa at a US consulate.
- Review any layoffs from the past year and any that are planned, because the agencies are told to take them into account.
What registration and the petition cost
Registration costs $215 per candidate, and the larger fees come only if the candidate is selected. A standard cap petition then adds $3,380 on paper or $3,330 online at the regular fee rates, which brings the government fees to $3,595 or $3,545 with registration. The last two rows of the table come on top only where they apply.
| Fee | Amount | When it is paid |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | $215 per candidate | At registration in March |
| Petition fees for a standard cap case | $3,380 on paper, $3,330 online | With the petition, from April 1 |
| Additional fee for employers with many H-1B and L-1 workers (Public Law 114-113) | $4,000 | With the petition, if the employer has 50 or more US employees and more than half are in H-1B or L-1 status |
| Premium processing (optional, a decision within 15 business days) | $2,965 | With the petition or later |
For example, an employer that registers two candidates and has one selected pays $430 at registration and $3,380 for a paper petition, before any of the extra fees. Each selected candidate’s petition carries its own fees. Employers with 25 or fewer full-time employees in the US, and nonprofits, pay reduced petition fees, and attorney fees are separate. Our H-1B guide breaks the petition fees down line by line and lists the reduced amounts.
Candidates’ odds and timing
USCIS selects each person once, however many employers register that person, so extra registrations add no chances. Each of those employers can still file a petition if the person is selected. What changes the odds is the wage level of the offer and a US master’s degree, which gives a second draw. USCIS first fills the regular cap from all registrations and then draws the master’s cap from the remaining US master’s degree holders.
A student on OPT (the period of work that F-1 students can do after a degree) may see that authorization expire before October 1. Under the cap-gap rule, a cap petition filed during the filing period with a request for a change of status extends the student’s F-1 status and work authorization past the end of OPT, provided the OPT is still valid on the day the petition is filed. A student whose OPT has already ended by then keeps F-1 status under the rule but not the permission to work, and travel abroad while the petition is pending abandons the change of status. The extension lasts until the H-1B start date of October 1, 2027, or until April 1, 2028 if the petition is still pending on October 1.
A candidate who is not selected in March 2027 usually waits for the registration in March 2028, unless a cap-exempt employer or another visa category is available. Our guide to alternatives to the H-1B compares the O-1 (for people with extraordinary ability) and the L-1 (for transfers from a related company abroad).
After a selection
A selected registration lets the employer file the full petition (Form I-129) during the filing period stated on the selection notice. That period lasts 90 days and opens no earlier than April 1, 2027 (six months before the start date). Before filing, the employer needs a labor condition application certified by the Department of Labor.
The petition has to match the registration. It names the same person with the same passport and includes the evidence behind the stated wage level. The start date can be no earlier than October 1, 2027. Once USCIS approves the petition, a candidate inside the United States moves to H-1B status on the start date. A candidate abroad first applies for the visa at a US consulate.
An employer that is unsure whether a role is a specialty occupation, or which wage level its salary reaches, can settle both questions before USCIS announces the dates. The first decides whether the petition can be approved, and the second how many times the candidate enters the draw.
The dates and figures above were checked against USCIS, Department of Labor and Federal Register records as of November 2026.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Every immigration case depends on its own facts. For an assessment of your specific situation, consult an immigration attorney.
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