USCIS Reaches FY2027 H-1B Cap

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has reached the H-1B cap for fiscal year 2027.

The agency announced on July 17 that it received enough petitions to fill the congressionally mandated 65,000 regular cap and the 20,000 advanced-degree “master’s cap.”

With the cap reached, USCIS will stop accepting new cap-subject H-1B petitions for FY2027.

Selected workers whose petitions are approved may begin H-1B employment as early as Oct. 1.

FY2027 was the first cycle run under a wage-weighted selection process. Rather than a purely random draw, each registration is tied to an Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) wage level, and higher levels get more entries in the pool.

How does this compare to past years?

The cap filled about as fast as last year, and faster than several years before that.

USCIS reached the FY2027 cap on July 17, 2026, just one day off from the FY2026 announcement, on July 18, 2025. The two years prior both needed a second lottery to reach the cap. Here’s a look at the past five USCIS fiscal years:

This is the second year in a row that USCIS filled the cap with no second lottery, which may suggest a trend toward stronger first-round filings.

What should employers and applicants do now?

If your registration was selected, the next step is filing Form I-129 by the USCIS deadline for your case. If it was not selected, there is no second round expected this cycle.

The H-1B is not the only work visa. Depending on the situation, alternatives like the O-1, L-1, or TN, or sponsorship by a cap-exempt employer, may be worth exploring.