USCIS Completes Fiscal Year 2026 H-1B Lottery

Quick Hits

• USCIS has received enough H-1B registrations for unique beneficiaries to meet the annual cap.
• Petitioners will have at least ninety days, beginning on April 1, 2025, to file a completed H-1B petition for each selected beneficiary.
• Employment in H-1B status can begin no earlier than October 1, 2025.

USCIS announced that it had selected enough registrations projected to meet the congressionally mandated H-1B cap, including the advanced degree exemption (master’s cap) for fiscal year (FY) 2026. USCIS confirmed that it had used its electronic preregistration system to conduct the random selection of electronic registrations.

Registrants’ online accounts will display a registration status indicating they have been selected to file an H-1B cap petition. The status for registrations that were not selected as part of the initial random selection process (and not denied or invalidated) will remain as “Submitted.”

USCIS confirmed that registrants will have a minimum of ninety days, beginning April 1, 2025, and lasting until at least June 30, 2025, to file complete H-1B petitions for beneficiaries selected in the FY 2026 lottery. Additionally, USCIS specified that petitioners must provide the applicable selection notice, evidence of the beneficiary’s valid passport or travel document that was used during registration to identify the beneficiary, and evidence to establish eligibility for H-1B petition approval.

Employment under an approved FY 2026 H-1B petition can begin no earlier than October 1, 2025.

If USCIS does not receive enough H-1B petitions during the registration period to meet the H-1B annual limit, it may conduct a second lottery.

Next Steps

Ogletree Deakins’ Immigration Practice Group will continue to monitor developments and will publish updates on the Immigration blog as additional information becomes available.

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