US hits FY2026 H-1B visa cap; only exempt petitions to be accepted now

The United States has reached the limit for H-1B visa petitions for the 2026 fiscal year. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Thursday confirmed that it has received enough applications to fill both the 65,000 visas under the regular cap and the 20,000 slots reserved for applicants with US advanced degrees.

A total of 120,141 registrations were selected during the initial round from 118,660 unique beneficiaries. Only those selected are now eligible to file a full H-1B petition for FY2026. USCIS has closed the cap intake and will now only accept cap-exempt petitions.

USCIS also confirmed a significant drop in the number of registrations this year. The agency received 343,981 eligible registrations for FY2026—down 26.9% from 470,342 the previous year. There was also a sharp decline in multiple registrations per beneficiary, falling to 7,828 from 47,314 in FY2025. The average number of registrations per beneficiary decreased to 1.01 this year from 1.06 last year.

About 57,600 unique employers participated in this cycle, slightly up from 52,700 in FY2025. The number of eligible unique beneficiaries also dropped sharply to approximately 339,000 from 442,000 last year.

This chart shows registration and selection numbers for fiscal years 2021-26:
* The number of eligible registrations does not include duplicate entries, registrations withdrawn by the employer before the deadline, those rejected due to invalid passport or travel document details, or submissions with unsuccessful payment transactions.

Those under cap-exempt categories can still apply

However, USCIS clarified that it will still process petitions that fall under cap-exempt categories. These include petitions for current H-1B workers who have already been counted under previous years’ caps and retain their cap number.

Petitions will continue to be accepted in the following cases:

• To extend the stay of an H-1B worker in the US
• To change the terms of their employment
• To allow a worker to change employers
• To enable concurrent employment in an additional H-1B role

Electronic registration, fraud checks, and attestation rules

To submit a petition for a cap-subject H-1B visa, employers must first complete an electronic registration and pay a non-refundable fee per applicant. Each registration must include accurate passport or travel document details. This process aims to reduce paperwork and streamline selection.

USCIS reiterated that any duplicate registration, invalid passport entry, or false attestation disqualifies the registration. Every petitioner must attest that the job offer is legitimate and that no collusion exists with other entities to increase selection chances. Registrants who violate these rules risk denial, revocation, or even criminal referral.

“If we find that this attestation was not true and correct, we will find the registration to not be properly submitted,” USCIS said. The agency has carried out investigations based on past violations and will continue to do so for FY2025 and FY2026.

The H-1B program allows US companies to hire foreign workers in specialised roles such as IT, engineering, healthcare, and finance. The current cap cycle does not affect those already counted under previous years’ caps. USCIS will continue accepting petitions for these workers in cases of extensions, employer changes, or concurrent roles.