H-1B Cap Registration for Employers: How the Lottery Works and How to Prepare for March 2027

H-1B cap registration is the online step every employer must complete, usually in March, before it can file a new cap-subject H-1B petition. Congress allows 65,000 new H-1B workers a year, plus 20,000 more for people with a U.S. master’s degree or higher. The employer, or its attorney, registers each candidate in a USCIS organizational account, pays $215 per registration (the FY 2027 amount), and waits for selection. Since February 27, 2026, selection is no longer a flat random draw: USCIS enters each candidate one to four times, based on the Department of Labor wage level of the offered salary, and then draws at random. Selected employers have at least 90 days, starting April 1, to file the full petition, and work begins no earlier than October 1. The FY 2028 season is expected to open in March 2027; USCIS must announce the dates at least 30 days ahead.

How the cap and registration work

The cap is set by statute. According to USCIS, the regular cap is 65,000 new petitions a fiscal year, up to 6,800 of which are set aside for the H-1B1 program, plus 20,000 for workers with a U.S. master’s degree or higher. The fiscal year starts October 1, so the season that opens in March 2027 is FY 2028, for jobs that start on or after October 1, 2027.

Registration is the gate. Before any cap petition can be filed, the employer, or its attorney through a representative account, submits a short electronic registration for each candidate. Each one covers a single person and must include the candidate’s valid passport details; entries such as "NA" make it invalid. An employer may submit only one registration per candidate per season, and if USCIS finds duplicates, it removes every registration that employer filed for that person. Selection is by unique beneficiary, a system USCIS adopted for FY 2025: a candidate with offers from three companies is entered once, and if selected, each of those companies may file.

The weighted selection rule and what it changes

On December 29, 2025, DHS published a final rule replacing the purely random draw with a weighted one, effective February 27, 2026. It governed the FY 2027 season. The rule rewrote the registration regulation at 8 CFR 214.2(h)(8)(iii), and USCIS has announced no change for the next season, so employers should plan the March 2027 registration under it and confirm when USCIS publishes the FY 2028 dates.

Each registration now states the occupation’s SOC code, the area of intended employment, and the highest OEWS wage level (from the Department of Labor’s wage survey) that the offered salary meets or exceeds. When there are more candidates than visas, USCIS enters each one into the pool once per wage level and then draws at random. Both the regular cap and the master’s cap use the weighting.

• Several worksites: the registration must use the lowest wage level among the locations.
• Several employers: if more than one employer registers the same person, USCIS enters that person at the lowest wage level among all the registrations.
• A wage below Level I based on another legitimate wage source is registered as Level I.
• No OEWS data for the job: the level follows the position’s requirements under Department of Labor prevailing wage guidance.
• The petition must match. It must carry the same SOC code and position information, pay at least the registered level, and prove that level as of the registration date. USCIS may deny or revoke a petition that does not, and may deny a later petition that changes the wage to gain an advantage in selection.

For employers, the salary decision now moves the odds, so it belongs in November, not April. A role paid at Level III or IV for its occupation and city has a projected chance roughly three to four times that of a Level I role. That is not a reason to inflate pay on paper: the wage must be real, paid, and supported by the job. It does mean three practical things. Choose the SOC code that honestly fits the duties before registering, because the petition is locked to it. Set the offered wage before registration, because it is the wage the petition must pay. And for new graduates at entry-level pay, plan the alternatives now, because their projected odds are the lowest.

What HR should do between November and February

The registration takes minutes. The decisions behind it take weeks. We work through this list in the months before March:

• Build the candidate list. Include F-1 students on OPT or STEM OPT, spouses in H-4 or L-2 status, L-1 workers, and candidates abroad. Remove anyone already counted against the cap: they move by an H-1B transfer at any time of year.
• Map status end dates. For each OPT worker, note when the work permit expires and whether a STEM extension is available.
• Confirm the degree. The job must require a bachelor’s degree or higher in a specific field, and the candidate must hold it or its equivalent. Order foreign credential evaluations now, and confirm U.S. master’s eligibility from the transcript, since it is claimed on the registration.
• Set the job, the code, and the wage. Write the duties, choose the SOC code, list every worksite (including a remote employee’s home), and look up the OEWS level the salary meets in each location.
• Budget. Plan the registration fees for every candidate and the petition fees for every candidate who could be selected.
• Collect passports. A registration without valid passport details is invalid; ask candidates to renew expiring passports early.
• Open the organizational account. Set up the employer’s USCIS account, name the signatory, and connect your attorney’s representative account before the period opens.

The cap-gap rule needs its own line on the calendar. USCIS extends an F-1 student’s status and OPT work authorization until April 1 of the fiscal year or the H-1B start date, whichever is earlier, but only if the cap petition comes from a selected registration, is filed on time, and requests a change of status rather than consular processing while the student is still in F-1 status. A student already in the 60-day grace period after OPT keeps status but cannot work. Denial or withdrawal ends the extension, and travel abroad while the change of status is pending abandons it.

After selection: the 90-day filing window

Selection gives the right to file, nothing more. The filing period opens April 1 and runs at least 90 days; the exact dates are on the selection notice. In that window the employer:

• Files a Labor Condition Application with the Department of Labor for the registered occupation, wage level, and worksite. Certification takes about seven business days, so file it in the first days of April.
• Prepares Form I-129 with evidence that the job is a specialty occupation, the candidate’s degree and evaluation, the wage, and, for students, their F-1 documents.
• Chooses change of status for a candidate in the United States, which triggers cap-gap, or consular processing for a candidate abroad.
• Decides on premium processing. Employment cannot start before October 1 either way; the fee buys an early answer, not an early start.

For candidates outside the United States, check one more item before filing: the September 2025 presidential proclamation that attached a $100,000 payment to certain new H-1B petitions. USCIS reports that a federal court vacated its implementing guidance in June 2026 and that the government has appealed, and a September 2026 proclamation extended the restriction until September 21, 2027. The status can change, so confirm the current position before filing.

What registration and the petition cost

These are the government fees for one candidate: the registration fee from the USCIS registration page, the rest from the USCIS fee schedule dated October 16, 2026. Department of Labor rules make the petition fees the employer’s cost.

If your candidate is not selected

Unselected registrations stay on reserve until USCIS decides the cap is reached. If too few selected employers file, USCIS can draw again from the reserve, with the same weighting; it did so in late July for FY 2024 and FY 2025. For FY 2027, USCIS announced on July 17, 2026 that both caps were reached, and that announcement mentions no second draw. Reserve registrations expire with the season, so trying again means a new registration and a new fee the next March. Meanwhile, these routes do not use the lottery:

• STEM OPT extension. A STEM graduate on OPT can get 24 more months of work authorization with an E-Verify employer and a Form I-983 training plan, which adds registration seasons.
• Cap-exempt employers. Universities, their affiliated nonprofits, and nonprofit or government research organizations file at any time of year; see our cap-exempt H-1B page.
• O-1. For candidates with sustained recognition in their field, the O-1 visa has no cap.
• L-1. A candidate who works for your foreign parent, branch, or affiliate for one continuous year within the last three can transfer as an L-1 manager, executive, or specialized-knowledge employee.
• TN. Canadian and Mexican citizens in a listed USMCA profession can work in TN status, with no cap.
• Already counted. Someone who held cap-subject H-1B status in the last six years joins you through a change-of-employer petition, not a registration.

Why no firm can raise your lottery odds

Employers ask which firm has the highest lottery success rate. The honest answer is none. USCIS runs the draw, at random within the wage-level weights, and no attorney sees or influences it. Registering a person through several companies no longer adds entries, because selection is by unique person, and duplicate registrations by one employer cost it all of them. Under the weighted rule, the only lever on the odds is the real wage of a real job, which is a business decision, not a filing technique. A quoted lottery success rate is a measure of chance and client mix. What a firm controls is everything around the draw: that each candidate is eligible, that each registration is accurate and matches the petition to come, that nothing is missed in the March window, that petitions are filed early in the 90 days, and that they are approved. Judge a firm on those.

How Atlas Immigration Law helps

We run H-1B cap seasons for employers from the candidate list in November to the approvals in summer: we check each candidate’s status and degree, settle the occupation code and wage level before registration, submit the registrations, and file selected petitions in the first weeks of April. Each case runs on a flat fee agreed in writing and billed at milestones, with a dedicated paralegal reachable by call, email, or text, same-business-day responses, and attorney Jordan Weinberg reviewing every filing. Employers follow each registration and petition in the Atlas Vision client portal. Atlas is based in Dallas and represents employers in all 50 states; see our H-1B services and the broader work visa practice, or request a free consultation.

This guide is part of our work visa services for employers — the service page covers eligibility, fees, and how we handle these cases.

Jordan S. Weinberg, Esq.

Founder & Managing Attorney, Atlas Immigration Law

Member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the Dallas Bar Association. Licensed to practice in Texas; fluent in English and Spanish.

Legally reviewed by a licensed immigration attorney

This guide is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Immigration law and procedures change, and how they apply depends on your specific facts — consult a licensed immigration attorney about your situation.