USCIS announced that the FY 2026 H-1B cap initial registration period will open on March 7, 2025, and will close on March 24, 2025, requiring employers to submit registrations through their USCIS online accounts with a $215 fee per beneficiary. The beneficiary-centric selection process will continue, meaning each beneficiary will be counted only once in the lottery, regardless of how many employers submit registration on their behalf. A temporary increase in the daily credit card transaction limit to $99,999.99 has also been approved to facilitate bulk payments during the registration period.
The H-1B cap registration will be conducted electronically through the USCIS online portal.
Employers and their representatives must submit registrations within the designated window—March 7, 2025, to March 24, 2025—as late submissions will not be accepted. Employers should ensure they have a USCIS online account well in advance to avoid last-minute delays. You can find additional information and resources on the organizational accounts on the Organizational Accounts Frequently Asked Questions page.
For FY 2026, USCIS has implemented several updates to organizational accounts. These updates include:
USCIS will continue to use the beneficiary-centric selection method first introduced in FY 2025. This means that each unique beneficiary (employee) will only be counted once in the lottery, even if multiple employers submit registrations on their behalf. So long as enough unique registrations are received by the deadline, USCIS will conduct a random lottery selection and notify selected registrants by March 31, 2025.
The registration fee per beneficiary is $215, payable at the time of submission.
USCIS has received clearance to temporarily increase the daily credit card transaction limit to $99,999.99, allowing employers to process multiple payments efficiently. Employers planning large batch registrations should consider ACH payments, which may require pre-authorization from their financial institution.
For further details, please visit the official USCIS announcement. If you have any questions or need assistance with the H-1B registration process, feel free to contact our office.
For a deeper discussion on the above, please reach out to your Vialto Partners point of contact, or alternatively:
Manish Daftari
Partner
Simply follow our Vialto Alerts page on LinkedIn and posts will be displayed on your feed. To ensure you don’t miss one, once you’re on our LinkedIn page, click on the bell icon under the banner image to manage your notifications.
Further information on Vialto Partners can be found here: www.vialtopartners.com
Vialto Partners (“Vialto”) refers to wholly owned subsidiaries of CD&R Galaxy UK OpCo Limited as well as the other members of the Vialto Partners global network. The information contained in this document is for general guidance on matters of interest only. Vialto is not responsible for any errors or omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of this information. All information is provided “as is”, with no guarantee of completeness, accuracy, timeliness or of the results obtained from the use of this information, and without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including, but not limited to warranties of performance, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event will Vialto, its related entities, or the agents or employees thereof be liable to you or anyone else for any decision made or action taken in reliance on the information in this document or for any consequential, special or similar damages, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.
© 2025 Vialto Partners. All rights reserved.