The registration for the H-1B lottery, offering 85,000 U.S. work visas, will open tomorrow. According to USCIS, the initial registration period will run from March 7 at noon Eastern through March 24 at noon Eastern. Starting tomorrow, prospective petitioners and their representatives can use a USCIS online account to electronically register each beneficiary for the selection process and pay the associated $215 registration fee per beneficiary.
This year, the registration fee for the H-1B work visa lottery has increased from $10 to $215. For employers without a USCIS online account, USCIS advises creating an organizational account. Employers who had a registration account between fiscal years 2021 and 2024 but did not use it for fiscal year 2025 will find their account automatically converted to an organizational account upon logging in. First-time registrants can set up an account at any time. USCIS has provided resources and step-by-step guides on its Organizational Accounts FAQ page.
Representatives can add clients to their accounts anytime, but both representatives and registrants must wait until tomorrow, March 7, to input beneficiary information and submit registrations with the $215 fee. USCIS notes that since the selection process occurs after the registration period ends, there’s no advantage to rushing submissions on the first day.
For fiscal year 2026, USCIS will continue the beneficiary-centric selection process introduced in FY 2025. This system selects registrations based on unique beneficiaries rather than individual registrations. If enough registrations for unique beneficiaries are received by March 24, USCIS will randomly select beneficiaries and notify petitioners and representatives via their online accounts. If fewer registrations are submitted than available slots, all properly submitted unique beneficiary registrations will be selected. USCIS plans to notify petitioners and representatives by March 31 regarding selected registrations.
USCIS has rolled out several enhancements for fiscal year 2026 organizational and representative accounts. A key update allows paralegals to collaborate with multiple legal representatives, enabling them to manage H-1B registrations, Form I-129 petitions, and premium processing requests within a single account for greater efficiency. USCIS has also simplified the process for legal representatives to add paralegals to client accounts, improving team collaboration.
Additional improvements include the ability to pre-populate certain Form I-129 fields with data from selected H-1B registrations, reducing errors and saving time. USCIS has also introduced a feature allowing representatives to upload a spreadsheet with H-1B beneficiary data to pre-populate registration details, streamlining the process further.
To support high-volume registrations, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has temporarily raised the daily credit card transaction limit for H-1B registration fees from $24,999.99 to $99,999.99. Payments exceeding this limit may be processed via Automated Clearing House (ACH), and USCIS recommends that petitioners notify their banks in advance to avoid potential ACH issues.
Kishor Panthi
View More PostsKishor Panthi is the founder and editor-in-chief of Khasokhas and NepYork. He is the author of three books, “Kampan,” "UNTRANSLATABLE" and “Zero Mile.” He writes about social issues, immigration, and politics.
