For employers seeking to sponsor foreign national professionals, awareness of the H-1B cap registration deadline is critical. Registration for the FY 2026 H-1B Cap lottery will start at 12 p.m. Eastern Time on March 7 and end at 12 p.m. Eastern Time on March 24. This year, the registration fee has been increased to $215.
The FY 2026 H-1B Cap lottery will use the same beneficiary-centric selection process as was used in FY 2025. Employers will again be required to have a U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) online account to register beneficiaries for the lottery.
Who Should Consider H-1B Sponsorship?
H-1B visas are available for employers seeking to sponsor foreign nationals who hold at least a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent in a relevant field for an occupation that requires theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and at least a bachelor’s degree in a directly related field.
Employers should not just consider new hires for the H-1B sponsorship, but also students currently working temporarily under Optional Practical Training (OPT) or Curricular Practical Training (CPT), employees currently in a different nonimmigrant status, such as TN, who need to change to H-1B, or employees with a dependent status that provides work authorization and who desire to have work authorization independent of their spouse’s immigration status.
What is the H-1B Lottery?
Each year, 85,000 H-1B visas are available starting October 1st. The annual number of H-1B visas available is limited by statute and USCIS determines who is eligible to file for an H-1B visa through a lottery system. For example, in FY 2025 there were 479,953 lottery registrations chasing the 85,000 visas available. Beneficiaries who hold a U.S. master’s degree or higher have a better chance at being selected in the lottery due to 20,000 visas being reserved for persons holding those degrees.
Certain employers are exempt from the H-1B lottery. Cap-exempt employers include nonprofit institutions of higher education, nonprofit entities associated with institutions of higher education, and nonprofit or U.S. government research organizations.
Next Steps for Employers Interested in H-1B Sponsorship
Employers interested in H-1B sponsorship should contact Ruder Ware’s Immigration & Workforce Mobility team as soon as possible. Our team will assess whether the H-1B visa is appropriate for the position and the proposed beneficiary. In addition to information about the proposed job title, duties, and compensation, we will require a copy of the employee’s passport biographic page and copies of their diplomas and transcripts. If a cap subject H-1B petition is appropriate, we will prepare their registration for the lottery. If they are selected in the lottery, we will then prepare and file the H-1B petition.
Filing Fees for Cap Subject H-1B Petitions
If your registration is selected in the lottery and you file a petition, the fees for paper filing the H-1B petition are as follows:
Regular Petitioner
I-129 Fee: $780
Fraud Prevention Fee: $500
ACWIA Fee: $1,500
Asylum Fee: $600
TOTAL: $3,380
Small Employers
The small employer fee schedule applies to employers with 25 or fewer full-time employees inclusive of affiliates and subsidiaries.
I-129 Fee: $460
Fraud Prevention Fee: $500
ACWIA Fee: $750
Asylum Fee: $300
TOTAL: $2,010
Additional Filing Fees and Fee Exemptions
Nonprofit organizations are exempt from certain filing fees.
There is an additional $4,000 fee for employers who employ more than 50 individuals in the United States, and more than 50 percent of those employees are in H-1B, L-1A, or L-1B status.
There are also additional fees if H-4 petitions for dependents are filed with the H-1B or if you desire to pay for premium processing of the H-1B petition.
