Specific Q&A Regarding Upcoming 2026 H-1B Visa Cap Registration Period Opening on March 7, 2025
Highlights
- The H-1B Visa Cap Registration, which opens on March 7, 2025, is the first step for employers wanting to file a new H-1B visa petition for a prospective employee.
- If an employer's registration is chosen in the expected random lottery, the employer will then have a chance to sponsor that prospective employee for an H-1B visa.
This Holland & Knight alert details common Q&A regarding the upcoming 2026 H-1B Visa Cap Registration Period and related procedures. This information is in addition to a recent alert regarding the upcoming Registration Period (Prior H-1B Registration Alert)
When Is the Registration Period?
The registration period for the fiscal year (FY) 2026 H-1B cap will open at noon ET on March 7, 2025, and run through noon ET on March 24, 2025 (H-1B Visa Cap Registration Period).
Why Is There an H-1B Registration?
A registration is needed because there is a limited number of H-1B visas that can be issued in any one U.S. Department of State FY and, every year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) receives more H-1B visa petitions than it is permitted to approve. As explained in the Prior H-1B Registration Alert, only 85,000 H-1B visas can be issued in any one FY and, for most years, USCIS receives hundreds of thousands of registrations for individuals trying to obtain an H-1B visa.
What Is the Purpose of the Registration Period?
During the H-1B Visa Cap Registration Period, prospective employers (petitioners) and their representatives (Attorneys of Record) will be able to provide USCIS employer and prospective employee (beneficiary) information in order to have the chance to file an initial H-1B visa petition for the named beneficiary reflected therein.
How Will It Work?
Prospective petitioners and their representatives will be required to create and use a USCIS online account to register each beneficiary electronically for the H-1B visa petition selection process and pay an increased $215 nonrefundable registration fee for each beneficiary registration. Prospective petitioners submitting their own registrations without the assistance of a representative, such as an Attorney of Record, (U.S. employers and U.S. agents, referred to as "registrants") will use a registrant account that can be created at any time. Attorneys of Record filing registrations for employer clients may add employer clients to their current USCIS online accounts at any time, but both registrants and Attorneys of Record must wait until noon on March 7, 2025, to enter beneficiary information and submit the $215 registration fee. Once each registration is filed, a confirmation number will be assigned to the registration, and this number will be used solely to track the registration.
What Is an Online USCIS Account, and Is It Really Needed?
Each prospective employer must create an online USCIS account and either file its own registration or confirm the registration information entered by Holland & Knight, as the Attorney of Record, and authorize its attorney to proceed to file the registration for the employer. Prospective petitioners and their Attorneys of Record will be able to submit registrations for multiple beneficiaries in a single online session.
Where Can I Find Helpful Information?
For general information about the H-1B registration process, visit the USCIS website's H-1B Electronic Registration Process overview.
Where Can I Find Help Setting Up an Online USCIS Account?
To create your company's required online USCIS account, watch this short video from USCIS with screen shots and follow the instructions.
Note: If you want Holland & Knight to file H-1B registration(s) on behalf of a beneficiary for your company, when you create your online USCIS account, it is important that you choose the "I am an H-1B registrant" category and not "I am an applicant, petitioner, or requestor." If you want to file your own registrations without the assistance of legal counsel, you would choose the "I am an applicant, petitioner, or requestor" classification. |
Can I Start the Process Now?
At this time, you will be able to create your online USCIS account only. You will not be able to do anything else within your online USCIS account until noon on March 7, 2025, when registration opens. However, it is important to create your online USCIS account so that you are ready and know the system is working. On or shortly after March 7, when Holland & Knight is able to input your registration details into the firm's online USCIS account, your Holland & Knight immigration attorney will send you a "Representative Passcode" assigned by the USCIS for your beneficiary registration. You will need to use to link your online USCIS account for the registration to Holland & Knight's draft beneficiary registration for your company, review the draft registration and confirm it is satisfactory so that your Holland & Knight immigration attorney can pay the required registration fee and submit your beneficiary registration. Once Holland & Knight has received confirmation through the firm's online USCIS account that you have reviewed and authorized the firm to file the registration, your Holland & Knight immigration attorney will do so.
Can Registrations Be Edited or Saved Prior to Submission?
Through the registrant's or representative's online USCIS account, registrations can usually be prepared, saved and edited, but only prior to final payment and submission of the registration. At times, the USCIS system does not allow this and, in these cases, the draft registration is deleted, and the registration materials have to be redone. Once the registration is submitted, no changes can be made.
What Happens to the Registrations Received by USCIS?
If USCIS receives more registrations than it is able to process because of the H-1B visa cap by noon on March 24, 2025, it will randomly select registrations and send selection notifications to the applicable online USCIS account.
When Will USCIS Begin Notifying of Selected Registrations?
USCIS intends to commence notifying account holders by March 31, 2025.
Any Additional Advice?
The registration process is quite unforgiving. It is recommended that prior to submitting a registration or having an Attorney of Record submit a registration on your behalf that you review very carefully all of the information in the draft registration materials and ensure that it is accurate. Once submitted, if there is an error, it is likely that it cannot be fixed, and it can result in your registration being ineligible for selection.
How Can Holland & Knight Assist You?
Holland & Knight has an experienced team of immigration lawyers skilled at preparing and submitting H-1B registrations, as well as resulting H-1B visa petitions. Our attorneys remain readily available to assist you in discussing options and taking any action needed, including filing a registration. If you have any questions about the current immigration landscape, please contact the author or another member of Holland & Knight's Immigration, Nationality and Consular Team.
Information contained in this alert is for the general education and knowledge of our readers. It is not designed to be, and should not be used as, the sole source of information when analyzing and resolving a legal problem, and it should not be substituted for legal advice, which relies on a specific factual analysis. Moreover, the laws of each jurisdiction are different and are constantly changing. This information is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. If you have specific questions regarding a particular fact situation, we urge you to consult the authors of this publication, your Holland & Knight representative or other competent legal counsel.
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