The H-1B Visa Lottery Calendar: Registration to Filing, Explained

The H-1B lottery follows a three-phase calendar every cap season - registration, selection, then filing - and knowing how the phases connect helps you plan the months in between.

If you're trying to pin down when H-1B lottery registration opens, when results come out, and when petitions actually get filed, the honest answer is that exact dates shift every year — but the three-phase shape of the calendar does not. Registration opens first. USCIS runs selection and notifies selected registrants a few weeks later. Then selected petitioners get a defined window to file the actual H-1B petition. For the FY2027 cycle, registration ran March 4 to March 19, 2026, USCIS announced selections by March 31, 2026, and petition filing was open April 1 through June 30, 2026. That's the template every future cycle roughly follows — always confirm the live dates on USCIS's site before you plan around them.

This guide walks through how those three phases fit together, what changed with the new wage-weighted selection rule, and where the recurring confusion (and the wrong assumptions) tends to happen.

The three-phase H-1B lottery calendar

Every H-1B cap cycle runs through the same three phases, even though the specific dates move from year to year. Here's how the FY2027 cycle mapped onto that structure, as a concrete, dated example — not a template to copy forward.

Two things worth noticing in that table. First, the gap between registration closing and results appearing was short — under two weeks for FY2027. Second, the filing window was substantially longer than either of the two phases before it, because building and filing a complete petition takes more employer-side work than submitting a registration.

Neither the length of these windows nor their exact start and end dates is guaranteed to repeat. USCIS has moved cap-season dates before, and the wage-weighted rule change itself (more on that below) shows the agency is still actively adjusting how the cycle runs. Treat the FY2027 dates as a worked example of the calendar's shape, not as next year's schedule.

How the wage-weighted rule changed the odds, not the calendar

As of the FY2027 cycle, the lottery is no longer a flat random draw. The wage-weighted selection rule took effect February 27, 2026, and it governs how USCIS pulls names from the registration pool during the same three-phase calendar described above. The mechanism: each beneficiary gets multiple entries into the selection pool based on the DOL OEWS wage level tied to the offered position. Level IV pay gets four entries, Level III gets three, Level II gets two, and Level I gets one. The annual caps themselves are unchanged — 65,000 regular-cap slots plus 20,000 for the US advanced-degree exemption.

This is worth sitting with, because it's the single most consequential change to cap season in years, and it's a mechanism most candidates don't fully register. A Level I job offer is not disqualifying, but it now carries materially worse odds than a Level III or Level IV offer in the same registration pool. Because wage level is set on the Labor Condition Application before the H-1B petition is even filed, it's a variable that's still negotiable earlier in the hiring process — worth raising with your prospective employer's immigration team before the LCA is submitted, not after. For the full mechanics of how the weighting math works, see our breakdown of the wage-weighted H-1B lottery mechanism, and for how those odds actually played out across wage levels in the first cycle under the new rule, see our analysis of FY2027 H-1B lottery registration odds.

It's also worth knowing this rule doesn't touch cap-exempt hiring at all. Universities, affiliated nonprofits, and government or nonprofit research organizations don't run their H-1B hires through the lottery in the first place, weighted or not. If you're weighing a cap-exempt offer against a cap-subject one, that tradeoff is a separate decision from anything in this calendar — see our comparison of cap-subject vs. cap-exempt H-1B jobs.

Step by step, what actually happens between registration and your first day of work

1. Employer creates a registration for each candidate during the open window. This requires basic biographic information and a per-registration fee paid to USCIS — no résumé, LCA, or full petition yet.
2. The registration window closes on its published end date. No late registrations are accepted once it closes.
3. USCIS runs selection using the wage-weighted process described above, pulling enough registrations to reach the combined regular-cap and advanced-degree-exemption numbers.
4. Selected registrants and their employers see the result in their USCIS online account. There isn't a public "results day" announcement the way some other visa processes work — you have to check the account directly.
5. The employer files Form I-129 within the petition filing window, with a Labor Condition Application already certified by the Department of Labor and full supporting evidence of the specialty-occupation role and the beneficiary's qualifications.
6. USCIS adjudicates the petition, either on standard processing or, if the employer requests it, premium processing for a faster guaranteed turnaround.
7. If approved, work authorization follows the terms on the approval notice — the specific start date depends on your individual case (change of status vs. consular processing, current status, requested dates on the LCA), so that's a question for your employer's immigration attorney, not a general rule.

Notice how much of this sequence depends on documents that have to exist before selection is even announced — a certified LCA, an accurate job description at the right wage level, evidence of the specialty-occupation requirement. Waiting until results come out to start assembling those pieces is the single biggest reason filing-window deadlines get missed.

Filing window mechanics worth planning around

Once selected, employers who want a faster answer can request premium processing on the I-129 petition. The premium processing fee is $2,965 as of March 1, 2026, and it guarantees USCIS will take adjudicative action — approval, denial, or a Request for Evidence — within a set turnaround rather than leaving the case in the standard queue for months. That clock pauses if USCIS issues an RFE and only resumes once they receive your response, so premium processing buys certainty about when you'll hear something, not necessarily a fast approval if the case has issues. For a fuller walk-through of when premium processing is worth the cost, see our premium processing guide.

If you're timing this against OPT or STEM OPT work authorization, the registration-to-filing calendar interacts directly with your own status clock — cap-gap coverage, unemployment-day limits, and when you need a decision before your EAD runs out are all separate rules layered on top of the lottery calendar. Our OPT-to-H1B timeline guide walks through how those two clocks run in parallel.

Where the $100,000 fee fits into this calendar (a live correction)

Because cap season and H-1B cost questions tend to get mentally bundled together, it's worth addressing directly: the $100,000 H-1B fee is not something you need to plan around right now. A federal court in the District of Massachusetts vacated the fee on June 8, 2026, holding it exceeded executive authority and violated the Administrative Procedure Act. The government asked the First Circuit to reinstate it while the appeal proceeds, and the court denied that request on July 24, 2026. As a result, the fee is not being collected as of August 2026, even though the underlying litigation is still pending. The proclamation's 12-month restriction is set to sunset on September 20, 2026 unless extended — so this is a status that could shift again, and it's worth checking current guidance rather than assuming either direction. For the current status in more depth, see is the $100K H-1B fee still in effect.

Common mistakes

• Assuming last year's dates repeat exactly. The registration window, selection announcement, and filing window all moved for FY2027 compared to prior cycles, and there's no guarantee they'll land on the same days again. Check USCIS's own H-1B cap season page for the live dates each year, not a blog post from a prior cycle — including this one.
• Confusing "selected" with "approved." Selection only earns you a spot in the filing window. The petition still has to be built, filed, and adjudicated, and it can still be denied or hit with an RFE after selection.
• Waiting for selection results before starting on the LCA and supporting evidence. The filing window is real time pressure. Employers who start document prep only after seeing a selection notice are the ones most likely to file late or file thin.
• Not checking the USCIS online account directly. There's no mass public announcement of who was selected — it shows up in the registrant's account, and missing that check can mean missing time inside an already tight filing window.
• Treating the wage-weighted rule as a calendar change. It changed the odds of selection, not when registration, selection, or filing happen. Don't confuse the two when you're trying to plan dates.
• Assuming the $100,000 fee applies to your registration or petition without checking current status. As covered above, it's currently blocked — but the situation has moved before and could move again.

Frequently asked questions

When does H-1B lottery registration open? The registration window is not fixed to the same calendar dates every year, but USCIS typically opens it in the first half of March and keeps it open for about two weeks. For the FY2027 cycle, registration ran from March 4, 2026 through March 19, 2026. Always confirm the live window on USCIS's H-1B cap season page rather than assuming last year's dates repeat, since the agency sets a new window each cycle.

When are H-1B lottery results announced? There is no single fixed results date either, but USCIS has been announcing selections shortly after the registration window closes, historically within a few weeks. For FY2027, USCIS announced selections by March 31, 2026, about twelve days after registration closed. Selected registrants and their employers see the update in their USCIS online account rather than through a public announcement, so check your account directly during the announcement period.

What happens after I am selected in the H-1B lottery? Selection is not approval. It only opens a defined filing window during which the employer must submit the full I-129 petition with a certified Labor Condition Application and supporting evidence. For FY2027 that filing window ran April 1 through June 30, 2026, a roughly three-month period. Employers can request premium processing for a faster adjudication timeline, but most start preparing documents well before selections are even announced.

Does the wage-weighted lottery change how the calendar works? No. The wage-weighted selection rule, effective February 27, 2026, changed how USCIS draws names from the registration pool, giving higher DOL wage levels more entries, but it did not change the three-phase registration, selection, and filing structure. The calendar mechanics stayed the same, only the odds inside the draw shifted.

Does the $100,000 H-1B fee apply if I am selected? As of August 2026 the $100,000 fee is not being collected. A federal court vacated it on June 8, 2026 and the First Circuit denied the government's request to reinstate it on July 24, 2026, though the appeal is still pending. The underlying proclamation is set to sunset on September 20, 2026 unless extended, so the status could change again, and you should confirm the current position with your employer's immigration counsel before assuming it does or doesn't apply to your case.

Every cap season runs on this same registration, selection, filing rhythm — but the exact dates, and now the exact odds math, are worth re-checking every single cycle rather than assuming continuity. If you want help thinking through where you stand relative to this year's calendar, F1Jobs can walk through your specific timeline with you.