USCIS made an official announcement yesterday confirming the dates for the H1B Visa Fiscal Year(FY) 2026 season, how the lottery process would work, the new fee implementation, and other changes to the organizational accounts, and other details.
This article will summarize the USCIS press release and relevant information for the H1B Fiscal Year(FY) 2026 season and address some common questions.
USCIS News Summary: H1B Visa 2026 Season Starts on March 7th
Below is the summary of the key information from the USCIS press release related to the H1B Visa FY 2026 season:
H1B Registration Period Start and end dates
Employers/ Companies/ Attorneys can submit H1B Registrations using the USCIS Online H1B Registration System for the fiscal year 2026 cap during the below dates:
- Start Date of H1B Registration Period: Friday, March 7th, 2025, Noon EST
- End Date of H1B Registration Period: Monday, March 24th, 2025, Noon EST
- There is no requirement to submit H1B registration on the start date; you can submit it anytime between the start date and the end date of the registration period.
If the employers/ attorneys do not have an online USCIS account, they must create an account to submit the registrations during this period.
H1B Registration Fee Increased
- For the H1B FY 2025 season, USCIS had a $10 fee per H1B registration.
- In 2024, USCIS published a final rule that increased the H1B Registration Fee to $215.
- The H1B Registration fee for the H1B FY 2026 season will be $215 for each applicant/ registration submitted online.
If you want to watch a video summary of this article, you may watch at YouTube Video: USCIS News: H1B 2026 Update
H1B Lottery, Beneficiary Centric Selection Process, Results, Notifications
- If USCIS receives more H1B registrations than the H1B Cap number(85,000) by March 24th, 2025, they will conduct a random selection process, popularly called the H1B Lottery.
- The H1B Lottery process will be a beneficiary-centric selection process that was first conducted in FY 2025 Season. They will use the Passport Number as the unique identifier for the same. You can read more at the New H1B Lottery Process from FY 2025 for full details.
- There is no additional advantage in the new H1B Lottery process for anyone submitting multiple H1B registrations through multiple companies, as the lottery is based on the applicant’s unique passport number. This will help reduce fraudulent H1B registrations submitted in the past to game the system.
- USCIS Plans to announce the H1B Lottery results by March 31st, 2025. This is similar to previous years, no change here.
- Similar to previous years, the H1B lottery selection notifications will be sent to the online accounts.
Organizational Accounts, Online System Provisions, Migration of Accounts
- If you are an employer who has never submitted H1B registrations in the past and plan to submit H1B registrations for FY 2026 season, you must create a USCIS Organization Account on the USCIS website.
- If you are an employer who had USCIS online accounts from FY 2021 to FY 2024 and submitted H1B registrations during that period, but did not submit in the FY 2025 season, your account will be converted to an organization account in your first login. You can read more about Organization Accounts FAQs on USCIS website.
- Representatives can add clients to the USCIS online accounts anytime, but all of them can only submit H1B registrations starting from March 7th, 2025.
Prepopulate Forms, Fields, Increase in Credit Limit, ACH, Filing H1B Petition
- Only applicants selected in the H1B lottery selection process can submit a H1B petition. They must include the H1B Registration Selection Notice during the filing.
- USCIS has made some updates to the organization accounts for FY 2026 season such as ability for paralegals to work with more than one legal representative. Also other changes include easy way to add para legals by legal reps.
- Some other updates include like pre-population of some fields for the online I-129 form from the registration. Also, ability to make a spreadsheet with H1B applicants data and upload to the H1B registration system to pre-populate data.
- The US Dept of Treasury has approved a temporary increase of the daily credit card limit per day from $24,999.99 to $99,99.99 to help employers with the volume of payments for the FY 2026 season. If more than $100K is needed, companies need to use the Automated Clearing House(ACH) mode for payments.
Trump Administration Impact on H1B Lottery, FY 2026 Season?
Trump administration took office in late January 2025, and they have not made any changes or proposed any new changes to the H1B Lottery process for the upcoming FY 2026 season. There is no impact on the H1B lottery process or the registration process for the FY 2026 season.
We may expect some changes for the next year H1B FY 2027 fiscal year, if they plan to bring back the H1B Lottery based on Wage Levels. We need to wait and see, can’t say anything at this point. We will know more once they publish their regulatory agenda.
Common FAQs
No, you cannot submit a H1B registration by yourself. The USCIS system does not stop anyone from registering an account online, but to submit a H1B registration, it has to be done by a US Company that sponsors your H1B visa.
Well, based on past historical data of H1B Cap reach dates and the number of applications/ registration, we are very likely to see more registrations than the H1B cap number and there will be lottery for FY 2026 season.
Yes, as long as the offer you have is bona fide, you are allowed to submit multiple H1B registrations. There is no advantage in the H1b lottery, but you will have the option to choose if both of them get selected and both of them gets H1B approval at later point.
What do you think of the H1B FY 2026 season? share your thoughts in comments section below.
Reference: USCIS press release on H1B FY 2026
Multiple job offers can get the chances of selecting h1b?