Employment Law Update: Employers Need to Prepare Now For The FY2027 H-1B Lottery Process
Date: February 13, 2026
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa available to foreign workers in specialty occupations. Specialty occupations require a theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge, for which attainment of a bachelor’s or higher degree in a directly related field of study is normally the minimum requirement for entry into the occupation. Current law limits the total number of available visas to 85,000 per fiscal year, with 20,000 of those visas reserved for foreign nationals with a Master's degree or higher.
Due to the numeric limitation, there has been significant competition among employers for these visas. As a result, USCIS instituted a lottery system to more fairly allocate visas among the competing registrants. This year, USCIS has also released final regulations that will make additional changes to the lottery process for this coming fiscal year. A few highlights are:
- The new rules require disclosure of the proposed wage, and that wage cannot be lower than the Level I wage for the applicable occupation, as determined by the Department of Labor (“DOL”).
- Registration beneficiaries will be entered into the lottery based on the assigned wage level for their position, based on DOL data. Those with Level IV wages will be entered into the lottery pool four times. Those in Level III entered three times. Level II, two times. The higher the assigned wage level, the higher the likelihood of selection.
- The above special selection process will only be applied if there are more registrations than the available visa numbers (85,000 – 65,000 regular + 20,000 Master's cap).
Given these new registration requirements, employers will need to coordinate with immigration counsel well before the March 4 registration opening, in order to review potential registrants and evaluate applicable occupations and wage levels as set by the DOL.
A few other rules to keep in mind: USCIS requires payment of a $215 fee for each registrant. Each registrant will have only one chance in the lottery, even if multiple employers submit registrations for the individual. USCIS may also deny or revoke H-1B visas for any successful registrant if they determine that the registration contained any false information. Any registrant would be able to begin work as an H-1B non-immigrant on or after October 1, 2026, provided the start date is within 6 months of the date the non-immigrant petition is filed for a selected registrant.
Beyond the new registration process, keep in mind that in September 2025, the Trump administration announced a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas. For more information on this fee, please check Whiteford’s November 13, 2025, Employment Law Update.
The information contained here is not intended to provide legal advice or opinion and should not be acted upon without consulting an attorney. Counsel should not be selected based on advertising materials, and we recommend that you conduct further investigation when seeking legal representation.