By: Patricia Gannon, Esq. and Marcela Bermudez, Esq.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that the H-1B cap for Fiscal Year 2027 has been reached. USCIS received enough applicants during the initial registration period to meet the FY 2027 H-1B numerical allocations, which were 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and 20,000 H-1B visa U.S. advanced-degree exemption.
USCIS introduced a new weighted selection process for cap-subject H-1B petitions that gives preference to higher-skilled and higher-paid foreign workers. Beginning with the FY 2027 H-1B cap season, the agency replaced the traditional random lottery with a wage-based selection system. Under this approach, if the number of registrations exceeds the annual cap, beneficiaries associated with higher wage levels will receive priority in the selection process.
USCIS continues to use a beneficiary-centric registration model, allowing employers to submit only one registration per foreign worker. Each beneficiary is entered into the selection pool only once, regardless of how many employers submit registrations on their behalf, helping to reduce duplicate entries and strengthen program integrity.
USCIS has not yet provided any data for the FY 2027 cap, but in USCIS announced that 211,600 registration were properly submitted in FY 2027, a drop from 343,981 in FY 2026.
There will be no second lottery for FY 2027 cap and employers will have to plan for the FY 2028 cap. Unselected registrations are not carried over to the next fiscal year.
If you have questions about the FY 2027 H-1B filing process, the immigration and naturalization attorneys at Greenspoon Marder are available to assist.
