Cap season update: registration is March 4-19, 2026

H-1B cap season is quickly approaching with Fiscal Year 2027 lottery registration scheduled for March 4-19, 2026. As a reminder, this year USCIS is transitioning from a random lottery to a weighted lottery. Under a December 29, 2025, Final Rule, USCIS will favor registrations for “higher skilled” nonimmigrants by allocating more registrations to higher-paid workers. USCIS will use the four wage levels from the Department of Labor Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey to allocate more lottery entries to registrants with higher wages. Registrants with Level I wages will receive one entry, Level II wages will receive two entries, Level III wages will receive three entries, and Level IV wages will receive four entries. 

The proposed changes will increase the amount of time needed to prepare and submit each H-1B lottery entry, as an analysis of the employer’s offered position and selection of the proper OEWS occupational code and wage level will be required. These changes will likely also impact if companies will sponsor recent college graduates.  

Given this advanced timeline for e-registration and additional complications resulting from the new weighted lottery, employers should decide as soon as possible whether they will register their employee(s) in the H-1B cap lottery. Please feel free to contact the attorneys of Iandoli, Desai & Cronin now with your questions about potential H-1B sponsorship.