The H-1B lottery season is upon us. It will open on Wednesday, March 4, 2026 and continue for 14 days until March 19, 2026. There is still time for employers to enter candidates into the annual lottery but act quickly before this opportunity ends.
Here is everything you need to know about the H-1B lottery, including some key changes for this year:
What is the H-1B lottery?
H-1B classification is available for professionals to work in “specialty occupations,” or positions that normally require a bachelor’s degree or higher in a specific field. Because of high demand and limited supply of H-1Bs, USCIS conducts an annual lottery for new H-1Bs. Over the past 4 years, 300,000-500,000 people entered the lottery for only 85,000 spots.
Employers who sponsor H-1B workers submit them through USCIS’s website during the registration window (March 4-19, 2026). Multiple people can be included through each submission with a cost of $215 per person.
The H-1B lottery is “beneficiary-centric,” which means that each person only has one chance in the lottery even if they get multiple companies to submit them into the lottery.
USCIS conducts the lottery before the end of March. They first select 20,000 people that have U.S. graduate degrees in the “master’s cap” and then another 65,000 of all remaining entrants in the “regular cap,” posting the results through the USCIS accounts.
For those selected, employers may file full I-129 petitions with the associated filing fees to prove eligibility for H-1B classification during a filing window from April to June. If approved, the H-1B classification starts as early as October 1, 2026.
Who is eligible for the H-1B lottery?
Anyone with a bachelor’s degree (U.S. or foreign, or equivalent experience) may be submitted into the H-1B lottery.
Many recent U.S. graduates who have temporary work authorization through Optional Practical Training (OPT) enter the H-1B lottery to let them continue working in the United States after their OPT expires.
What information is needed for the H-1B lottery?
The following information must be included in each H-1B lottery submission:
- Employer: Name, address, and employer identification number (FEIN)
- Employer Representative: Name and contact details
- Foreign Worker(s): Name, date of birth, country of birth / citizenship, gender, and passport number
- Master’s Cap: Whether the foreign worker has a master’s degree or higher from a U.S. university to be eligible for the master’s cap
- Wage Level: Foreign worker’s wage level (see below)
What is new about the lottery this year?
Weighted Selection: The main change this year is a new “weighted selection” process that favors candidates with higher salaries.
This year, each candidate will be assigned to a wage level (1-4) based on their offered salary, occupation, and work location. Candidates will get the same number of entries into the lottery as their wage level (i.e., someone with a wage level 4 will have 4 entries, wage level 3 has 3 entries, etc.).
The wage level for each person is based on the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) wage data published on the Department of Labor’s website. Employers must determine the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) for the offered role and look up the OFLC wage levels for the area of employment. The wage level for the H-1B lottery is the highest level that the offered salary equals or exceeds. For example, a Software Developer (15-1252) in Cincinnati, Ohio with a salary of $125,000 would be wage level 3 because it is higher than OFLC wage level 3 ($119,787) but lower than wage level 4 ($139,027).
The New $100,000 H-1B Fee: The second major change affecting the H-1B lottery this year is the $100,000 H-1B fee from the Presidential Proclamation on September 15, 2025. This fee applies to H-1B applicants who are currently outside the United States but does not apply to those within the United States who are approved for a change of status to H-1B.
How will these changes impact the H-1B lottery?
These two changes will significantly change the dynamics of the H-1B lottery this year. The weighted-selection rule will favor more experienced candidates who earn higher salaries to the detriment of recent graduates.
However, the $100,000 fee will prevent many companies from submitting people outside the United States into the lottery, which will increase the odds for those already within the United States including many recent graduates on OPT.
Even for candidates with lower wage levels, it still makes sense to try the H-1B lottery. It has yet to be seen how these new dynamics will play out. These changes—along with the economy and general immigration climate—may reduce the overall number of entries. This has the potential to be a good year for those who apply.
Please reach out if you have any questions or want legal assistance with the H-1B lottery!
There is still time to prepare for the H-1B lottery for your employees. I would be glad to guide you through this evolving process based on my extensive H-1B lottery experience.
