U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“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.
If you are an H-1B petitioning employer who does not have a USCIS online account, you must create an organizational account. Representatives may add company clients to their accounts at any time, but both representatives and employers must wait until March 4 to enter beneficiary information and submit registrations and the associated $215 fee. Selections take place after the initial registration period closes. USCIS intends to send selection notifications by March 31, 2026, via users’ USCIS online accounts to prospective petitioners and representatives who have at least one registration selected.
A petitioner may only file an H-1B cap-subject petition, including a petition for a beneficiary who is eligible for the advanced degree exemption, if their registration for the beneficiary of the cap-subject petition was selected in the H-1B registration process.
For additional information, please see USCIS’ news alert on the FY 2027 H-1B cap.
Further information on the electronic registration process is available on USCIS’ H-1B Electronic Registration Process page. USCIS will update this page prior to the initial registration period.
New for the FY 2027 Cap Season
The Department of Homeland Security published a final rule amending the regulations governing how USCIS selects H-1B registrations for unique beneficiaries who can then file H-1B cap-subject petitions. For the FY 2027 H-1B cap season, if USCIS receives registrations for unique beneficiaries during the initial registration period that exceed the cap, USCIS will conduct a weighted selection from the unique beneficiaries with properly submitted registrations. If USCIS does not receive registrations for enough unique beneficiaries, USCIS will select all registrations for unique beneficiaries that were properly submitted in the initial registration period.
On Sept. 19, 2025, President Trump issued a Proclamation, Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers. While the proclamation does not directly impact the electronic registration process, if a petitioner has their registration selected and is eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition, they may need to pay an additional $100,000 fee before filing the H-1B petition as a condition of eligibility. See the Presidential Proclamation on Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers section on USCIS’ H-1B Specialty Occupations page for additional details.
Should you wish to receive timely updates and further information concerning these and other Immigration matters, please contact Gunster’s Immigration Law Practice.
This publication is for general information only. It is not legal advice, and legal counsel should be contacted before any action is taken that might be influenced by this publication.
###
Gunster. Florida's Law Firm for Leaders.
As a full-service law firm, Gunster provides full-service legal counsel to leading organizations and individuals from its 13 offices statewide. Established in 1925, the firm has expanded, diversified and evolved, but always with a singular focus: Florida and its clients’ stake in it. A magnet for business-savvy attorneys who embrace collaboration for the greatest advantage of clients, Gunster’s growth has not been at the expense of personalized service but because of it. The firm serves clients from its offices in Boca Raton, Coral Gables, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Naples, Orlando, Palm Beach, Stuart, Tallahassee, Tampa, Vero Beach, and its headquarters in West Palm Beach. With more than 320 attorneys and consultants, and 300 committed support staff, Gunster is ranked among the top 200 largest law firms by the National Law Journal and has been recognized as one of the Top 100 Diverse Law Firms by Law360. More information about its practices, industries, offices and news is available at www.gunster.com.
