USCIS has announced that the initial registration period for the FY 2027 H-1B Cap will open at noon ET on March 4 and run through noon ET on March 19, 2026.
During this period, prospective H-1B cap-subject petitioners and representatives must use a USCIS online account to register each beneficiary electronically for the selection process and pay the associated $215 H-1B registration fee for each registration.
For the FY27 HCAP season, if USCIS receives registrations for unique beneficiaries during the initial registration period that exceed the cap, they will conduct a weighted selection from the beneficiaries with properly submitted registrations. If they do not receive registrations for enough unique beneficiaries, they will select all registrations for unique beneficiaries that were properly submitted in the initial registration period.