USCIS has announced that the FY 2027 H‑1B cap registration window will run from March 4 to March 19, 2026. During this period, employers seeking to sponsor H‑1B workers for this year’s lottery (covering employment beginning October 1, 2026) must use a USCIS online account to electronically register each beneficiary for the selection process and submit the required $215 H‑1B registration fee for each entry.
This upcoming cap season will be shaped more than ever by two major policy developments: the new wage‑weighted lottery system and the presidential proclamation imposing a $100,000 fee on certain H‑1B petitions.
The Wage‑Weighted Lottery: A Structural Shift in Selection Odds
The wage‑weighted lottery represents a significant shift in how employers approach H‑1B registrations. Under a new regulation, the Department of Homeland Security will replace the longstanding random H‑1B cap lottery with a system that gives beneficiaries offered higher wages a greater chance of selection. The weighing is based on the Department of Labor’s four‑level prevailing wage system. Rather than each beneficiary receiving a single lottery entry, the number of entries will now correspond to the DOL wage level associated with the offered position:
Higher wage level, typically associated with more experienced or specialized roles, now enjoy significantly better...
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