United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that the registration period for this year’s H-1B visa lottery will run from March 7, 2025, to March 24, 2025.
On February 5, 2025, USCIS confirmed that the registration period for the 2026 fiscal year H-1B cap will run from noon Eastern on March 7, 2025, and run through noon Eastern on March 24, 2025. Registrations must be submitted during this period to be considered for this year’s H-1B lottery. There is a $215 registration fee required for each potential beneficiary.
There are initially 65,000 H-1B visas available for all potential applicants, and an additional 20,000 are reserved for those who have earned a master’s degree or higher from a US institution of higher education. Due to their limited number, these visas are in extremely high demand, and a lottery process is used to determine who may submit petitions for consideration. As with any other lottery, USCIS will randomly select entries and notify the winners at the end of March. Those who are selected will then be allowed to file H-1B petitions with USCIS.
H-1B workers who have already been selected in the lottery and need to extend their stay or change employers, as well as those who will work for a “cap-exempt employer” (which include institutions of higher education and certain related nonprofit entities, nonprofit research organizations and government research organizations), are not subject to the H-1B quota and do not have to enter the lottery.
If you are an employer or an individual wishing to learn more about the H-1B process, please email us directly at info@wildeslaw.com to schedule an appointment to speak with one of our immigration professionals.