On March 31, 2026, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the completion of the selection process for the H-1B cap lottery for fiscal year (FY) 2027.
Quick Hits
- USCIS has received enough H-1B registrations for unique beneficiaries to meet the annual cap.
- Petitioners will have ninety days, beginning on April 1, 2026, to file a completed H-1B petition for each selected beneficiary. Employment in H-1B status can begin no earlier than October 1, 2026.
- The FY 2027 lottery is the first to use the new weighted, wage-level-based selection process established under a DHS rule that took effect on February 27, 2026.
USCIS utilized its electronic preregistration system to carry out the newly implemented weighted selection process and confirmed selection notifications were sent to registrant employers and their authorized representatives of the lottery results through their USCIS online accounts.
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 FY 2027.
New Weighted Selection Process
The FY 2027 H-1B lottery marks the first cycle conducted under DHS’s final rule establishing a weighted, wage-level-based selection process for cap-subject H-1B petitions. Under this system, which replaced the prior random selection lottery that did not include wage information, registrants are assigned one to four entries in the selection pool based on the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) wage level that corresponds to their offered salary.
Each occupational code by OEWS breaks down wage leveling into Levels I, II, III, and IV, and under this new system, beneficiaries are entered into the registration system depending on which wage level their offered salary would meet based on the specific occupational classification. For example, an offered salary that met wage level IV under an OEWS classification would receive four entries. The weighted process prioritizes higher-paid foreign workers by giving them a greater chance of selection while still allowing entry-level workers to participate. The beneficiary-centric selection system adopted in 2024 remained in effect, but this time incorporating the new wage-based number of registration entries. For more details on the new weighted wage-level rule, see our prior article.
Registrants’ online accounts will display a registration status of “Selected,” indicating they are eligible to file an H-1B cap petition for FY 2027. Registrations that were not selected during the initial process (and that have not been denied or invalidated) will continue to show a status of “Submitted.”
USCIS confirmed selected registrants will have ninety days to file complete H-1B petitions, with the filing window opening on April 1, 2026, and ending on June 30, 2026. Each petition must be accompanied by the corresponding selection notice, a copy of the passport used for the beneficiary’s registration, and supporting evidence demonstrating eligibility for H-1B approval. Petitioners must also ensure that their filed petitions include identifying position information consistent with their registration, including the OEWS wage level, Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code, and area(s) of intended employment.
Employment under an approved FY 2027 H-1B petition can begin no earlier than October 1, 2026.
USCIS may conduct a second lottery if it does not receive enough H-1B petitions during the filing period to meet the annual cap of H-1Bs issued.
