Everything you need to know about registering for the FY2027 H-1B lottery, dates, selection odds, and strategy.
The H-1B registration period for Fiscal Year 2027 (work authorization beginning October 1, 2026) follows a predictable annual calendar. USCIS publishes an announcement of the registration period in late January or early February 2026. The registration window itself opens in early-to-mid March 2026 and closes approximately two weeks later. Workers and employers need to be fully prepared before the registration window opens, there is no advance filing or reservation system.
During the two-week registration window, employers access the USCIS myUSCIS online portal to submit H-1B registrations. Each registration requires basic information about the employer (EIN, address, authorized representative) and the beneficiary (name, date of birth, country of birth, country of citizenship, passport number, education level). No petition documents, LCA, or detailed job description are required at the registration stage, this comes later if selected.
The $215 registration fee (as of FY2025, confirm current fee before filing) is paid per registration via the online portal. This fee is non-refundable regardless of selection outcome. Employers with multiple H-1B candidates pay $215 per candidate. The fee is payable by the employer; employers cannot legally pass this fee to the beneficiary unless the beneficiary is petitioning for their own benefit (which is rare).
USCIS announces lottery results in late March or early April. Selected registrations are visible in the employer's myUSCIS account. Employers of selected candidates then have 90 days to file the full H-1B petition (Form I-129) with all supporting documents. For FY2027, the petition filing window would be approximately April through June 2026, with H-1B employment authorized from October 1, 2026.
Since 2023, USCIS has used a wage-based selection system rather than a purely random lottery. Registrations are categorized into wage tiers based on the OES (Occupational Employment Statistics) prevailing wage level corresponding to the offered wage. OES levels range from 1 (entry level) to 4 (fully competent, experienced), with approximate percentile ranges: Level 1 is below the 17th percentile, Level 2 is the 17th-34th percentile, Level 3 is the 34th-50th percentile, and Level 4 is above the median (50th percentile+).
Under the wage-based system, USCIS first selects from Level IV registrations. If the cap is not met by Level IV alone, selection proceeds to Level III, then Level II, then Level I. In years with very high registration volume (FY2024 saw ~470,000 registrations for 85,000 slots), the vast majority of registrations are in Level I, and selection rates across all tiers end up similar because there are not enough Level III and IV registrations to fill the cap. The wage preference matters more in moderate-volume years.
Practically, if an employer can justify a Level III or IV wage for a position, this can improve selection odds. A software engineer offered $180,000 (which exceeds Level III prevailing wage in most metro areas) enters the lottery at a higher tier than the same engineer offered $120,000. Discussing compensation strategy with both the employer and an immigration attorney before the registration window opens can make a material difference in selection odds.
The US master's cap exemption provides a second lottery draw for workers who earned US master's degrees or higher. These registrations are first entered in the 20,000-slot master's cap lottery, and any not selected there are rolled into the regular 65,000-cap lottery. This means master's cap beneficiaries effectively get two lottery chances. For Indian and Chinese nationals who attended US graduate programs, this is a significant advantage, approximately 5-7 percentage points higher selection probability compared to bachelor's-only applicants.
One of the most effective legal strategies for improving H-1B lottery selection odds is having multiple legitimate employers submit registrations. Each employer-beneficiary registration is an independent lottery entry. A worker with three separate employers each submitting a registration has three chances to be selected, versus one chance with a single employer. This is entirely legal provided each registration represents a genuine, bona fide job offer.
The key constraint is that registrations must represent genuine job offers, employment that the employer genuinely intends to offer and the beneficiary genuinely intends to accept if selected. USCIS has cracked down heavily on sham registrations submitted by body shop staffing companies that had no actual clients or placements for the workers they registered. Debarment from H-1B registration for up to 5 years is the penalty for fraudulent registration.
Legitimate multiple registrations occur naturally when workers are genuinely job searching and have received offers from multiple qualified employers during the narrow registration window. Workers on OPT who are actively interviewing during January-March may receive multiple genuine offers, each of which can be registered. Workers in consulting roles may have both their primary consulting firm and a client company willing to sponsor them, both can legitimately file registrations.
If selected by multiple employers, the beneficiary must ultimately choose which employer to work for, only one H-1B petition can be filed per employment relationship. The other employers' selections are not used, but the beneficiary is not penalized. If not selected by any employer, all registrations simply expire and the worker must wait until the following year's lottery. There is no limit on how many times a worker can re-register in subsequent years.
Selection in the lottery is just the first step. After the employer receives the selection notification in myUSCIS, the employer has 90 days to file the complete H-1B petition package. This package includes Form I-129 (the main petition form), the certified Labor Condition Application from the Department of Labor, evidence of the beneficiary's qualifications (degree transcripts, credential evaluations for foreign degrees, licenses), evidence of the specialty occupation nature of the position, and documentation of the employer-employee relationship.
The LCA must be obtained from the Department of Labor before the I-129 is filed. LCA applications are filed through FLAG (Foreign Labor Application Gateway) and are typically adjudicated within 7 business days. The LCA requires the employer to certify the offered wage, the geographic work location, and the occupational classification. Filing the LCA should begin immediately after lottery selection notification to ensure it is approved well before the 90-day petition deadline.
For new graduates and workers changing employers, the H-1B petition should request an October 1st start date. For current H-1B workers changing employers (who can use H-1B portability), the start date can be earlier, as soon as USCIS receives the petition, the worker can potentially transfer employment under portability. Premium processing is strongly recommended for workers who need start date certainty.
Workers who are not selected in the initial lottery draw in March-April should monitor their myUSCIS account through September. USCIS sometimes conducts additional selection rounds if petition filing volume is lower than the cap, workers who remain in "submitted" status after the initial draw may still be selected in a second round later in the summer. These second-round selections are announced on a rolling basis and require rapid petition filing response when received.
Not winning the lottery is not a dead end, it is an opportunity to reassess your strategy and explore alternatives. Cap-exempt employment at universities, nonprofit research organizations, and teaching hospitals does not require lottery participation. If your field supports academic or research roles, pursuing a postdoc, research scientist, or staff position at a cap-exempt employer while applying for the lottery in subsequent years is a widely used strategy.
The O-1A visa for individuals with extraordinary ability in sciences, education, business, or athletics offers an alternative for highly accomplished professionals. O-1A does not have a numerical cap and can be filed at any time. The standard is high, extraordinary ability demonstrated through national or international acclaim, but workers who have built strong professional credentials may qualify. O-1A is often a better immigration vehicle than H-1B for senior professionals with established track records.
TN status is available to Canadian and Mexican citizens under USMCA (formerly NAFTA) for specific professional categories including engineers, scientists, accountants, and many other occupations. TN has no numerical cap, no lottery, and can be obtained at the border or port of entry. Canadian citizens can apply directly at a US land border or pre-clearance facility. TN status does not lead directly to permanent residence, but it provides a stable work authorization platform from which to continue H-1B lottery attempts.
E-3 status is available exclusively to Australian nationals for specialty occupation positions. E-3 has a cap of 10,500 annually but is chronically undersubscribed, Australians can effectively obtain E-3 whenever they have a qualifying job offer without lottery competition. L-1 intracompany transferee visas are available to workers transferred from a foreign affiliate after one year of employment, some workers deliberately work for a foreign employer's affiliate for a year specifically to become eligible for L-1 transfer, bypassing the H-1B lottery entirely.
Browse employers who actively participate in the H-1B lottery and have strong track records of registering and supporting selected candidates.
Browse H-1B Lottery Sponsors →