A new year has begun, and in early March 2025 the 2026 H-1B fiscal year registration window will officially open. The H-1B is a widely utilized nonimmigrant classification for foreign-born individuals who have been offered employment in the U.S. in a specialty occupation in professional fields such as computer science, engineering, accounting, and medicine, among others.

Congress limits the number of new, cap-subject H-1B visas that are available each year. H-1B visa numbers will be capped at 65,000 for bachelor’s degree cases, with an additional 20,000 slots for foreign nationals with a U.S. master’s degree or higher. Under a Free Trade Agreement, 6,800 H-1Bs are set aside for citizens of Chile and Singapore.

In 2020, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) instituted an electronic pre-registration system to allocate H-1B numbers prior to petition filing. The registration period usually lasts two to three weeks, with a lottery conducted by USCIS at the end of March. If selected, the employer and attorney will be notified electronically by USCIS.

After selection, the employer has 90 days to submit a complete H-1B petition on the selected registrant’s behalf. If the H-1B petition is approved, the beneficiary’s employment start date will be Oct. 1, 2025.

What Do Employers Need to Know Now About the Approaching Cap Season?

The filing fee for this year’s H-1B lottery registration will increase from $10 to $215. The registration fee is applicable for each beneficiary an employer registers in the lottery. The registration fee is nonrefundable. Employers should consider this fee increase when planning their registration strategy with counsel. Since the fee applies per beneficiary rather than per registration submission, these fees may add up quickly.

New H-1B Modernization Rule

On Dec. 17, 2024, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced a final rule with the goal to modernize the H-1B program. The new rule, set to take effect on Jan. 17, 2025, redefines and clarifies the meaning of a “specialty occupation.” It also extends “cap-gap” employment authorization through April 1 of the relevant fiscal year for students in F-1 status that possess valid employment authorization through optional practical training (OPT) or STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) OPT and have been selected in the lottery and have a pending H-1B change of status petition.

What Should Employers Do to Prepare for the Approaching H-1B Cap Season?

To prepare for 2026 H-1B lottery registration, employers should consider identifying all current and prospective non-U.S. citizen employees who have not held H-1B status before, but may need to obtain starting on Oct. 1, 2025, including:

• Students, recent hires, or paid interns who hold F-1 visa status and are working under OPT or STEM OPT employment authorization
• Certain L-1 Intracompany Transferees who do not qualify for green cards as multinational managers
• Individuals in TN status for whom you wish to pursue green cards
• Prospective foreign national employees who qualify for H-1B status yet were not selected for an available H-1B number during a prior lottery
• Other possible H-1B candidates, including certain E-3 and H-1B1 visa holders and spouses in H-4, L-2 or E-2 status

As a reminder, the following employees are exempt from the H-1B lottery registration process:

• Individuals who are changing employers and are currently in, or have previously held, H H-1B status, with remaining time on their total six-year H-1B allocation.
• Individuals who have been counted against the cap and only require an extension of their existing H-1B status
• Individuals employed by cap-exempt organizations, such as certain nonprofit and educational institutions

Employers should begin planning early to initiate the H-1B registration process for a chance to secure one of the coveted H-1B slots or to consider alternative nonimmigrant status options to the H-1B, such as O-1, L-1, E-2, E-3, or TN.