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last mo.

USCIS Reaches FY 2026 H-1B Visa Cap and Moves to Exempt Petition Processing

After exhausting its 85,000-petition quota, the agency will keep adjudicating extensions, employer-changes, amendments and other cap-exempt requests.

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An H-1B allows employers to hire foreign workers who have specialised skills and a bachelor's degree or equivalent.
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Overview

  • USCIS logged 343,981 eligible H-1B registrations for FY 2026—a 26.9% drop from last year—and selected 120,141 entries representing 118,660 unique beneficiaries.
  • All 65,000 regular visas and 20,000 master’s-degree exemption slots have been allocated, fulfilling the congressionally mandated cap for new petitions.
  • Employers submitted the fewest registrations in three years after USCIS raised its registration fee from $10 to $215 and imposed stricter anti-fraud documentation requirements.
  • Cap-exempt filings for current H-1B holders—including status extensions, changes of employer, amendments and concurrent employment—will continue to be accepted.
  • USCIS is preparing for the FY 2027 lottery, with registrations scheduled to open in March 2026 and petition filings expected from April through June.