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FY 2026 H-1B Cap Initial Registration Period

The initial registration period for the FY 2025 H-1B cap season will open at noon EST on March 4, 2025, and run through noon EST on March 24, 2024. Prospective employers and their representatives must use a USCIS online account to register each beneficiary electronically for the selection process and pay the registration fee for each beneficiary.  

Following last year's practice, registrants will be required to provide valid passport information or valid travel document information for the beneficiary. This passport or travel document must be the one the beneficiary, if or when abroad, intends to use to enter the U.S. if issued an H-1B visa. Each beneficiary must only be registered under one passport or travel number. 

H-1B Fee Schedule Final Rule

The registration fee for FY2026 is $215 per registration, an increase from the $10 registration fee of past years. 

The Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, is currently $$730 (online) or $780 (paper based) for all H-1B applications, unless the employer is classified as a small employer or non-profit. If a small employer, defined as employers with 25 or fewer full-time employees or a qualified non-profit[3], the Form I-129 fee will remain $460. New:  The Asylum Prgram fee was instituted in April 2024.  $300  for small employers or $600 for large employers, will apply.  The ACWIA fee and Fraud Fee remain the same. 

Online Filing and Organizational Account

USCIS continues to use the organizational accounts in the USCIS online account for employers to submit their H1b registrations and petitions. These organizational accounts will allow multiple individuals within an organization, such as a company or other business entity, and their legal representatives to collaborate on and prepare H-1B registrations, Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, and associated Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service. 

How to Prepare for the FY 2026 H-1B Cap Season
In addition to identifying professional beneficiaries under the new “beneficiary-centric” lottery system, employers should decide who will establish the organizational account within their organization. This individual should have the authority to sign, pay, and submit documents on behalf of the company.

Employers who already have a myUSCIS registrant account will not need to create a new account to access the new upgraded procedures for FY2026.  USCIS has stated that employers can login to their existing account and  the system is automatically“upgraded" for employers to use.
 

Cooper Immigration Law PLLC is available to assist US employers navigate the ongoing changes to the H-1B program.   Cooper Immigration Law PLLC can assist US employers with the account registration process, closely monitor the registration process and prepare and file the H1B petition, once the candidate has been selected for the H1B lottery.