U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that the initial registration period for the fiscal year (FY) 2026 H-1B cap will open at noon Eastern on March 7 and run through noon Eastern on March 24, 2025.

Key Points:

  • The FY 2026 H-1B cap will use the beneficiary-centric selection process launched in FY 2025. Under the beneficiary-centric process, registrations are selected by unique beneficiary rather than by registration.
  • Prospective petitioners and representatives must register each beneficiary electronically for the selection process and pay the associated $215 H-1B registration fee for each beneficiary using a USCIS online account.
  • H-1B petitioning employers who had an H-1B registrant account for the FY 2021 – FY 2024 H-1B registration seasons, but did not use the account for FY 2025, will have their existing account converted to an organizational account after their next login.
  • Representatives may add clients to their accounts at any time, but both representatives and registrants must wait until March 7 to enter beneficiary information and submit the registration with the $215 fee.
  • An H-1B cap-subject petition, including a petition for a beneficiary who is eligible for the advanced degree exemption, may only be filed by a petitioner whose registration for the beneficiary named in the H-1B petition was selected in the H-1B registration process.
  • Selections take place after the initial registration period closes, so there is no requirement to register on the day the initial registration period opens.
  • If USCIS receives registrations for enough unique beneficiaries by March 24, they will randomly select unique beneficiaries and send selection notifications to users’ USCIS online accounts (and employers’ organizational accounts).
  • If USCIS does not receive registrations for enough unique beneficiaries, all registrations for unique beneficiaries that were properly submitted in the initial registration period will be selected. Notifications to prospective petitioners and representatives whose accounts have at least one registration selected are anticipated to be sent by March 31.
  • H-1B petitioning employers who do not have a USCIS online account must create an organizational account here. First-time registrants can create an account at any time.

Additional Information: Additional information and resources on organizational accounts, including step-by-step videos, can be found here.

The U.S. Department of Treasury has approved a temporary increase in the daily credit card transaction limit from $24,999.99 to $99,999.99 per day for the FY 2026 H-1B cap season. Transactions of more than $99,999.99 may be made via Automated Clearing House (ACH).

Employers can use the BAL USCIS fee calculator for free to help determine expenses for their foreign national employees.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.

Copyright © 2025 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries, please contact copyright@bal.com.