H-1B cap registration for FY 2026 starts March 7: USCIS introduces new changes for employers

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has set the initial registration window for the fiscal year 2026 H-1B cap from 10:30 PM IST on March 7, 2025, to 10:30 PM IST on March 24, 2025. Employers and legal representatives must use a USCIS online account to register beneficiaries and submit the required $215 registration fee per beneficiary.

This year, USCIS continues with the beneficiary-centric selection process, introduced in FY 2025, meaning registrations will be selected by unique beneficiaries, not by registration volume. If enough unique registrations are received by March 24, selections will be made randomly. If not, all properly submitted registrations will be approved.

Key Registration Steps and Updates for Employers

Employers without a USCIS online account must create an organizational account to participate in the H-1B registration. Those with an older registrant account (from FY 2021–FY 2024) but inactive in FY 2025 will have their account converted to an organizational account upon their next login. First-time registrants can create accounts anytime, while representatives can add clients at any time, though actual beneficiary information can only be entered starting March 7.

Selection notifications will be sent through USCIS online accounts by March 31, 2025. There is no requirement to register on the first day, as selections take place only after the registration period closes.

Temporary Increase in Payment Limits

Due to past transaction volume exceeding daily credit card limits, the U.S. Department of Treasury has approved a temporary increase in the daily credit card transaction cap from $24,999.99 to $99,999.99 for the FY 2026 H-1B cap season. Transactions exceeding this amount will need to be processed through Automated Clearing House (ACH), which may require prior coordination with banks to remove ACH blocks.

Enhancements to Organizational Accounts

USCIS has introduced multiple enhancements to organizational and representative accounts for H-1B processing in FY 2026. These include:

• Paralegals can now work with multiple legal representatives, assisting different attorneys under one account.
• Legal representatives have an easier way to add paralegals to their company clients.
• Certain fields in Form I-129 will auto-populate from selected H-1B registrations.
• Bulk uploads of H-1B beneficiary data can now pre-populate registration fields.

For more details, employers and representatives can refer to the H-1B Electronic Registration Process page on the USCIS website.