The 2026 H-1B visa season is currently a priority for foreign professionals who are keen to work in the United States (US). The registration period begins on March 7, 2025, and ends on March 24, 2025. By then, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will have finished the random selection of beneficiaries.
For Fiscal Year (FY) 2026, USCIS will continue to use the beneficiary-centric selection procedure, which was established last year to reduce system gaming. Unlike the prior registration-based procedure, this system assures that each beneficiary is only considered once, regardless of how many registrations were filed on their behalf, the Business Standard reports.
Here’s what’s new this visa season:
Registration period: March 7 to March 24, 2025
Registration fee: USD 215 per beneficiary
Selection process: Random selection of unique beneficiaries, rather than registrations
Notification deadline: USCIS plans to notify selected registrants by March 31, 2025
The transition to a beneficiary-centric strategy has already resulted in significant registration reductions. In FY 2025, USCIS received 4,70,342 eligible registrations, a 38.6 per cent decrease from FY 2024's 7,58,994. In addition, the average number of registrations per beneficiary decreased from 1.70 in FY 2024 to 1.06 in FY 2025.
This is how the process works:
Employers register beneficiaries online using the USCIS portal.
USCIS uses a new selection process to choose unique beneficiaries.
Selected beneficiaries are notified via their USCIS accounts.
Selected beneficiaries file H-1B cap-subject petitions with USCIS.
The H-1B visa, created for highly educated workers, is still a popular choice for Indian professionals. In FY 2023, 72.3 per cent of all H-1B visas were granted to Indian workers. Additionally, India accounts for 28 per cent of international student occupations in the United States.
Under present regulations, 65,000 H-1B visas are given each year under the general ceiling, with an additional 20,000 visas allocated for those with advanced degrees from US schools.
With Donald Trump's return to the White House, international students and skilled professionals may face additional visa restrictions. The Trump administration is also anticipated to tighten H-1B regulations and limit visas in a variety of categories, including family green cards.
On the other hand, Trump has proposed a Gold Card effort to assist corporations in hiring and retaining outstanding international talent from prestigious US colleges.
