H-1B FY 2027 cap registration: dates, selection rules and what happened next

The FY 2027 registration period

USCIS announced the dates on 30 January 2026. Registration had to be completed electronically through a USCIS online account, one registration for each beneficiary, with a non-refundable fee of $215 per registration. The timeline on USCIS's H-1B electronic registration page (last updated 21 September 2026) reads:

• 4 March 2026: registration opens at noon Eastern.
• 19 March 2026: registration closes at 5:00 p.m. Eastern.
• 31 March 2026: the date by which USCIS intended to notify selected registrants through their online accounts.
• 1 April 2026: the earliest date to file cap-subject petitions based on the initial selection.

A note on the closing time

USCIS's original alert of 30 January 2026 said the period would run through noon Eastern on 19 March. The registration process page, updated on 21 September 2026, says 5:00 p.m. Eastern on 19 March, and it uses that time in its instructions on deleting duplicate registrations. This guide reports both because the two USCIS pages differ. The earlier blog post used noon.

How selection worked: the rules in the regulation

The registration rules are in 8 CFR 214.2(h)(8)(iii). Several of them affect what a registrant could and could not do:

• Selection first, petition second. A petitioner may file an H-1B cap-subject petition for a registered beneficiary only after its properly submitted registration for that beneficiary has been selected for that fiscal year. The regulation makes an exception for years when the registration requirement is suspended.
• One registration per beneficiary. A petitioner may submit only one registration per beneficiary in a fiscal year. If it submits more than one, all of its registrations for that beneficiary may be considered invalid.
• Wage level on the form. The registrant selects the highest OEWS wage level that the proffered wage equals or exceeds for the relevant SOC code and area of employment. If the beneficiary will work in several locations, the registrant selects the lowest corresponding level.
• Weighting. If a random selection is necessary, USCIS assigns each unique beneficiary the lowest wage level among all registrations for that person. Level IV enters the pool four times, level III three times, level II two times and level I one time. Each unique beneficiary counts only once toward the numerical allocation projections.
• Passport data. Each beneficiary must be registered under one valid passport or travel document, and the data must match the document the beneficiary intends to use to enter the United States.
• Duration of the period. The initial registration period lasts at least 14 calendar days.

Registration statuses and notices

USCIS shows a status for each beneficiary in the online account. "Selected" means the registrant may file a cap petition. "Submitted" means the registration is eligible for selection, and a registration that was not selected in the initial round remains "Submitted." USCIS notifies registrants whose registrations were not selected only after it determines that the cap for the fiscal year has been reached. Other statuses are "Not Selected," "Denied" (for invalid passport data or duplicate registrations), "Invalidated - failed payment" and "Deleted."

A selection notice states the filing period. The regulation requires a filing period of at least 90 days, and a petition filed outside it may be denied or rejected.

What has happened since the registration closed

The dated record, from USCIS and the Federal Register, is:

• 17 July 2026: USCIS announced it had received enough petitions to reach the 65,000 regular cap and the 20,000 U.S. advanced degree exemption for FY 2027.
• 25 August 2026: DHS published a notice of proposed rulemaking (FR Doc. 2026-17324) proposing a $103,265 fee for all H-1B cap-subject petitions, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, in addition to other fees and any payment required by proclamation. Comments were due 24 September 2026. It is a proposal, and this guide found no final rule.
• 18 September 2026: Proclamation 11069, published on 23 September 2026, extends the 2025 proclamation's restriction on entry of certain H-1B workers, except those whose petitions are accompanied by a $100,000 payment, until 12:00 a.m. Eastern daylight time on 21 September 2027. The proclamation states that the payment had been made for over 700 petitions and that registrations by the largest IT staffing and outsourcing firms fell from 24,946 to 2,055.
• Court order on the $100,000 payment: USCIS's H-1B page says that on 8 June 2026 the District of Massachusetts vacated agency guidance implementing the payment (State of California v. Mullin, 1:25-cv-13829), that the First Circuit denied a stay on 24 July 2026 and that DHS says it will comply while it considers next steps.

What the government says the weighted selection changed

Proclamation 11069 reports government figures for FY 2027: registrations for beneficiaries with at least a U.S. master's degree rose from 45.1 percent of total registrants for FY 2026 to 66.1 percent for FY 2027, and about 46.3 percent of selections were for job offers at the two highest wage levels, against 17.8 percent at the lowest level. These are the proclamation's own statements and not USCIS statistics. When this guide opened USCIS's registration page, it listed registration and selection totals only through FY 2026, and it showed no FY 2027 totals.