USCIS announced that the initial registration period for the fiscal year (FY) 2027 H-1B cap will open at noon Eastern on March 4 and run through noon Eastern on March 19, 2026. During this period, prospective H-1B cap-subject petitioners and representatives must use a USCIS online account to register each beneficiary electronically for the selection process and pay the associated $215 H-1B registration fee for each registration.

DHS New Process- “DHS is amending its regulations governing the H-1B cap selection process. This final rule implements a weighted selection process that will generally favor the allocation of H-1B visas to higher-skilled and higher-paid aliens, while maintaining the opportunity for employers to secure H-1B workers at all wage levels. The purpose of the new rule is to allow DHS to implement the numerical cap in a way that incentivizes employers to offer higher wages, or to petition for positions requiring higher skills and higher-skilled aliens, that are commensurate with higher wage levels. This weighted selection process will generally favor the allocation of H-1B visas to higher-skilled and higher-paid aliens, while maintaining the opportunity for employers to secure H-1B workers at all wage levels, to better serve the congressional intent for the H-1B program. Moreover, it will disincentivize abuse of the H-1B program to fill relatively lower-paid, lower-skilled positions, which is a significant problem under the present H-1B program.

Through this rule, DHS is amending the process by which USCIS selects H-1B registrations for unique beneficiaries for filing of H-1B cap-subject petitions (or H-1B petitions for any year in which the registration requirement is suspended) to implement a weighted selection process generally based on each beneficiary's equivalent wage level. When random selection is required because USCIS receives more registrations (or petitions) than USCIS projects to be needed to meet the numerical allocations, USCIS will conduct a weighted selection among the registrations for unique beneficiaries (or petitions) received generally based on the highest Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) wage level that the beneficiary's proffered wage will equal or exceed for the relevant Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code in the area(s) of intended employment. Under this process, registrations for unique beneficiaries or petitions will be assigned to the relevant OEWS wage level and entered into the selection pool as follows: registrations for unique beneficiaries or petitions assigned wage level IV will be entered into the selection pool four times, those assigned wage level III will be entered into the selection pool three times, those assigned wage level II would be entered into the selection pool two times, and those assigned wage level I will be entered into the selection pool one time. Each unique beneficiary will only be counted once toward the numerical allocation projections, regardless of how many registrations were submitted for that beneficiary or how many times the beneficiary is entered in the selection pool.” Federal Register/ Department of Homeland Security; 8 CFR Part 214; DHS Docket No. USCIS-2025-0040