USCIS Begins H-1B Lottery Notifications: What’s Next for Applicants?

NEW DELHI, India — The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has started rolling out results for the 2026 H-1B visa lottery. The registration process opened on March 7, 2025, and closed on March 24. By March 31, USCIS aimed to notify prospective petitioners about selected registrations.

The H-1B lottery selection is critical as it allows foreign professionals to work in specialty occupations within the U.S. Beneficiaries who registered during the 2026 cap season must check their online accounts to see their registration status. They will find one of several status updates: “Submitted,” “Selected,” “Not Selected,” “Denied due to duplicate registration,” “Invalidated due to failed payment,” “Deleted,” or “Processing submission.”

“Participants need to remain vigilant and regularly check their account status since notifications are being sent in phases,” said Richards and Jurusik Immigration Law in an advisory. For those who are selected, the window to file an H-1B petition opens on April 1, 2025, and closes on June 30, 2025.

H-1B visa applicants should prepare their documentation early, especially considering that the filing fee for each registration has increased significantly from $10 to $215. This change aligns more closely with the actual administrative costs of the process. Coupled with the switch to a beneficiary-centric selection model, this shift aims to enhance the integrity and efficiency of the H-1B system.

The beneficiary-centric model allows only one registration per beneficiary, regardless of how many employers might apply on their behalf, which is a significant change from past practices. For example, if an individual like Arjun, a machine learning engineer, receives job offers from three companies, only one employer can register him for the lottery, thus improving fairness and reducing potential multiple registrations.

According to USCIS, if they received registrations for enough unique beneficiaries by March 24, they conducted a random selection of those beneficiaries and sent selection notifications through users’ USCIS online accounts. If they did not receive enough unique registrations, all properly submitted registrations were chosen as part of the process.

The H-1B program plays a vital role in the U.S. labor market, allowing employers to temporarily hire foreign workers in specialized occupations requiring expertise and a minimum of a bachelor’s degree. Industries such as IT, healthcare, engineering, and finance commonly engage this visa program.

In another change announced by the Department of Labor, records pertaining to H-1B, H-1B1, H-2A, H-2B, and E-3 visas older than five years will be deleted from their Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) system, starting March 20.

While many celebrate the opportunities the H-1B visas offer, critics argue that policies to prioritize American workers and increase minimum wages for H-1B holders could hinder U.S. companies’ abilities to attract skilled professionals from abroad. A recent report from the National Foundation for American Policy warns that wage requirements could deter international talent.

As the FY 2026 H-1B lottery results unfold, applicants are encouraged to prepare diligently for the petition filing process if selected and to explore alternative pathways, such as employer-sponsored green cards, if not selected.