H1B process starts with the U.S. employer registering with the USCIS. Employers in the United States, intending to hire professional workers for specialty occupations may file h-1b petitions upon first registering with the USCIS.
Registration of h1b employers first started in Fiscal Year 2021. Since only 65,000 h-1b positions can be filed annually, and the h-1b applications filed are several times higher than this quota, a selection process is usually conducted through automated lottery selection process, if there are too many registrants. Because of the high demand for h1b hiring, the lottery selection process is inevitable and happens year after year. Once USCIS completes the selection process, it informs the selected employers to submit the h1b petitions.
When to register:
For Fiscal Year 2027, H-1B registration period begins March 4, 2026 at noon and runs till March 19, 2026 till 12 noon.
H1b registration period for employers begins at an announced date, usually a couple of weeks in the month of March. It is a widely publicized event. USCIS allows online registration by the employer. In the past, registration filing deadline has been extended by a day or two when the agency faced technical glitches. This happened when the system gets overwhelmed because of too many users.
H-1B not subject to CAP:
The following h1b petitions can be filed at any time in the year and are not cap subject:
- Extension of stay
- Change of employer or changing terms of h1b employment
- Concurrent H1b petition
- Recapture of h1b time spent outside