The 2026 H-1B cap season registrations, which opened on March 7, 2025, will close on March 24. The initial registration period is a minimum of 14 calendar days every fiscal year. USCIS intends to notify prospective petitioners and representatives whose accounts have at least one registration selected by March 31. If selected, the beneficiaries can start the petition filing process.
During the H-1B cap season registration, prospective petitioners and representatives have to utilize a US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) online account to electronically register each beneficiary for the selection process. For the 2026 H-1B cap-season, each registration submitted on behalf of a beneficiary costs $215.
The H-1B visa selections occur after the initial registration period closes on March 24.
However, if USCIS receives registrations for enough unique beneficiaries by March 24, there will be a random selection of unique beneficiaries and send selection notifications via users’ USCIS online accounts.
If USCIS do not receive registrations for enough unique beneficiaries, all registrations for unique beneficiaries that were properly submitted in the initial registration period will be selected.
Initially started in FY 2025, USCIS will use the beneficiary-centric c even for the FY 2026 H-1B cap season. Under the beneficiary-centric process, registrations are selected by unique beneficiaries rather than by registration.
The passport or travel document provided must be the one the beneficiary, if or when abroad, intends to use to enter the United States if issued an H-1B visa. Each beneficiary must only be registered under one passport or travel document. Only those with selected registrations are eligible to file H-1B cap-subject petitions.
USCIS had selected 114,017 beneficiaries, resulting in 120,603 selected registrations in the initial selection for the FY 2025 H-1B cap season.
After the closure of the registration period on March 24, the process of filing the H-1B petition will begin. Those beneficiaries whose registrations are selected can file the H-1B cap-subject petitions for FY 20265, including those petitions eligible for the advanced degree exemption. Only petitioners with registrations for selected beneficiaries will be allowed to file H-1B cap-subject petitions for FY 2026. The period for filing the H-1B cap-subject petition will be at least 90 days.
Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema presented a Rs 2.36 lakh crore budget for 2025-26 with a focus on tackling the state’s drug problem and improving healthcare. No new taxes were introduced, but the budget did not mention the AAP’s promise of Rs 1,000 monthly for women. Key allocations include Rs 5,598 crore for healthcare, Rs 17,975 crore for education.
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