USCIS has announced that the FY 2027 H-1B cap registration period will open on March 4 at 12:00 PM Eastern Time and close on March 19 at 12:00 PM Eastern Time. Employers seeking to file cap-subject H-1B petitions must complete the electronic registration during this window in order to be eligible to file a petition.
Eligibility to Submit Registration
A U.S. employer seeking to obtain H-1B classification for a beneficiary subject to the annual cap must submit an electronic registration during the designated registration period.
To qualify as a registrant, the employer must have a bona fide job offer for the beneficiary to work in the United States, maintain a legal presence in the United States, be amenable to service of process, and possess a valid IRS Employer Identification Number (EIN).
Each employer may submit only one registration per beneficiary per fiscal year. If multiple registrations are submitted by the same employer for the same beneficiary, all such registrations will be considered invalid.
USCIS Online Account and Registration Submission
Registrations are submitted electronically through a USCIS online account. Attorneys may submit registrations through representative accounts linked to employer accounts.
Up to 250 registrations may be submitted per batch submission. The system automatically saves draft entries. An authorized signatory must electronically review and sign the submission. Payment is processed through Pay.gov at the time of submission and the registration fee is non-refundable.
If payment is declined, rejected, disputed, or otherwise invalid after submission, USCIS may invalidate the registration and deny or revoke any petition filed based on that registration.
After submission, each beneficiary receives a confirmation number tied to the registration. This number confirms submission but does not provide case status tracking.
Employer Information Requirements
The registration requires detailed employer information, including the legal name of the employer, Doing Business As (DBA) name if applicable, EIN, primary U.S. office address, authorized signatory’s full legal name, title, contact phone number, and email address.
Accuracy in these fields is essential, as errors can lead to invalidation or complications at the petition stage.
Beneficiary Information Requirements
Each registration must include the beneficiary’s full legal name, date of birth, gender, country of birth, country of citizenship, passport or travel document number, country of issuance, and expiration date.
The passport or travel document must be valid at the time of registration unless its validity has been formally extended by the issuing government. USCIS will not accept registrations listing expired travel documents without valid extension.
The system also asks whether the beneficiary qualifies for the advanced degree exemption based on a U.S. master’s or higher degree.
Single Passport or Travel Document Requirement
Each beneficiary may be registered under only one valid passport or travel document for a given fiscal year.
This requirement has significant compliance implications. A beneficiary with dual citizenship and two valid passports cannot be registered under both passports. The same beneficiary cannot be registered by different employers using different passports. The passport listed at registration should match the passport the beneficiary intends to use for visa issuance or entry into the United States.
The purpose of this rule is to prevent manipulation of the selection system through multiple identity entries. USCIS has made clear that if multiple registrations are submitted using different identifying information for the same individual, those registrations may be deemed invalid.
Employers should obtain a clear copy of the passport that will be used for travel and ensure consistency across all registrations filed for that beneficiary. Any discrepancy between passport data used at registration and later petition filing can trigger scrutiny and potentially lead to invalidation.
Wage Level, SOC Code, and Area of Intended Employment
The most significant change for FY 2027 involves wage-based weighting in the selection process.
For each registration, the employer must provide the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code, identify the area of intended employment, and select the highest Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) wage level that the proffered wage equals or exceeds.
The proffered wage is the wage the employer intends to pay the beneficiary. The employer must choose among Wage Level IV, Wage Level III, Wage Level II, or Wage Level I.
If the wage is expressed as a range, the lowest wage in the range controls. If there are multiple work locations, the lowest applicable wage level controls.
Situations Without OEWS Wage Data
In some cases, a particular SOC code in a specific geographic area may not have published OEWS wage data.
When no OEWS wage is available, the employer must follow U.S. Department of Labor prevailing wage guidance to determine the appropriate wage level. This requires analyzing the job duties, minimum qualifications, and occupational classification under DOL’s prevailing wage framework.
If relying on another legitimate prevailing wage source or independent authoritative survey and the resulting wage falls below OEWS Level I, the employer must still select Wage Level I in the registration system.
Even where OEWS data is not available, the employer must select one of the four wage levels in the registration system. This effectively requires employers to conduct a wage-level assessment before filing the Labor Condition Application and to ensure that the selected wage level aligns with the position’s requirements.
Weighted Selection Mechanism for FY 2027
If USCIS receives more registrations than available H-1B numbers, the agency will implement a weighted selection process.
USCIS will assign each unique beneficiary to the lowest OEWS wage level among all registrations submitted on the beneficiary’s behalf. Each unique beneficiary will then be entered into the selection pool according to wage level as follows:
Wage Level IV entries will be counted four times.
Wage Level III entries will be counted three times.
Wage Level II entries will be counted two times.
Wage Level I entries will be counted once.
Once a unique beneficiary is selected, all registrations for that beneficiary are selected, and each employer may proceed with filing Form I-129.
This replaces the purely random lottery used in prior years and fundamentally alters the probability structure of selection.
Multiple Employers Registering the Same Beneficiary at Different Wage Levels
This scenario presents new complexity under the FY 2027 rules.
In prior years, if two different employers registered the same beneficiary, the system treated the beneficiary as one unique entry. If selected, both employers could file petitions. Wage level played no role in selection because the lottery was random.
Under the new weighted model, USCIS states that each unique beneficiary will be assigned to the lowest OEWS wage level among all registrations submitted on the beneficiary’s behalf.
Consider a situation in which Employer A registers the beneficiary at Wage Level IV and Employer B registers the same beneficiary at Wage Level III. There is currently no detailed agency guidance addressing this exact fact pattern. However, based on the language that the lowest OEWS wage level among all registrations will control, the logical interpretation is that the beneficiary would be assigned Wage Level III for weighting purposes and would therefore be entered into the selection pool three times, not four.
This approach is consistent with another aspect of the system: where multiple work locations or multiple positions exist, the lowest wage level controls. USCIS appears to be applying a conservative rule where multiple wage levels are involved.
If the beneficiary is selected, both employers would still be eligible to file H-1B petitions, as in prior years. The difference lies solely in the weighting applied during the selection process.
Practically, this means that a higher-wage offer from one employer can be diluted by a lower-wage offer from another employer. Employers have no ability to prevent another employer’s wage-level selection from affecting the weighting of a shared beneficiary.
Given the lack of explicit guidance, this issue may evolve through future clarifications. However, based on the regulatory language currently available, the lowest wage level across all registrations appears to govern the weighting calculation.
Duplicate Check Feature and Compliance Safeguards
The registration system includes a duplicate-check function that allows employers to detect potential duplicate registrations before submission. However, this tool does not guarantee that USCIS will not later identify duplicates. The burden remains on the employer to ensure compliance with the one-registration-per-beneficiary rule.
The authorized signatory must certify under penalty of perjury that the job offer is bona fide, that the employer intends to file a petition if selected, that the employer has not colluded to unfairly increase selection chances, and that the salary offered is at or above the wage level selected.
Given the wage-based weighting system, these certifications now carry increased strategic and compliance significance.
Conclusion
The FY 2027 H-1B cap season marks a fundamental shift in the selection framework.
The registration window runs from March 4 at 12 PM EST through March 19 at 12 PM EST. Wage-level selection now directly affects selection probability. The lowest wage level among all registrations for a beneficiary controls weighting. Passport consistency is essential to avoid invalidation. Pre-registration wage analysis is now a critical strategic step.
The move from a purely random lottery to a wage-weighted system significantly changes cap strategy. Employers and practitioners should conduct careful wage-level planning before the registration window opens.
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