Employers: Start Preparing For Registration For New H-1B Cap Lottery On March 7, 2025

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will again use an internet-based electronic registration and lottery process for employers seeking to file H-1B petitions for beneficiaries who are required to be counted under the annual allocation of new H-1B slots. The H-1B lottery electronic registration process will occur from March 7, 2025, starting at 11:00 a.m. CST,to March 24, 2025, 11:00 a.m. CST.

An H‑1B slot from the lottery must be obtained for a foreign worker to engage in "new" H‑1B employment, which generally refers to H‑1B petitions filed for foreign nationals who are not currently in H‑1B status. When new H‑1B employment requires an H‑1B lottery slot, it is generally referred to as a "cap‑subject." Foreign workers whose employment is cap‑subject may not begin their H‑1B employment until the start of the federal fiscal year for which their H‑1B cap visa was issued (i.e., October 1). However, there are exceptions when both new and continued H‑1B employment is not subject to the annual slot allocation, generally referred to as "cap‑exempt" petitions.

Under the current H-1B regulations for the 2026 Fiscal Year (October 1, 2025, to September 30, 2026), employers seeking an H-1B lottery slot for an employee will be required to register their company and the intended beneficiary online with USCIS and pay a $215 nonrefundable lottery fee for each electronic registration. The lottery registration process is not required for cap-exempt H-1B petitions.

USCIS grants 65,000 new H‑1B slots per federal fiscal year to employers who hire foreign workers for positions requiring at least a bachelor's degree in a specialty field. An additional 20,000 new H‑1B slots are available to employers who hire foreign workers with a master's degree from a U.S. university or college. These annual allocation limits are generally referred to as the "H‑1B cap."

To participate in the upcoming H-1B lottery electronic registration process, employers must provide for each registration entry:

• The employer's name, federal employer identification number (FEIN) and mailing address.
• The name, job title and contact information (telephone number and email address) of the employer's authorized representative.
• The beneficiary's full name, date of birth, country of birth, country of citizenship, gender and passport number.
• Whether the beneficiary has obtained a master's or higher degree from a U.S. institution of higher education.
• The employer's attorney or accredited representative, if applicable.

USCIS will use this information to randomly select enough H-1B slot registrants to fill the 2026 H-1B cap. Duplicate registrations for the same beneficiary by the same employer are strictly prohibited. Employers must attest as part of the registration process that they intend to employ the beneficiary if selected for an H-1B lottery slot.

USCIS will likely notify registrants if they have been selected in the lottery starting March 31, 2025. Selected registrants will then have a 90-day window starting on April 1, 2025, to properly file a completed H‑1B cap-subject petition with USCIS and pay all applicable H-1B filing fees for the named beneficiary.