New York: According to a federal agency, the initial registration window for H-1B visas, which are highly desired by Indian IT professionals, will begin on March 7 and conclude on March 24 for the fiscal year 2026.
The H-1B visa is classified as a non-immigrant visa, enabling U.S. companies to hire foreign professionals in specialized fields that necessitate advanced theoretical or technical skills.
Technology firms rely heavily on this visa to recruit tens of thousands of workers annually from nations such as India and China.
According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the initial registration window for the highly sought-after H-1B visas for foreign guest workers for fiscal year 2026 will commence at noon Eastern Time (10:30 PM IST) on March 7 and will continue until noon Eastern Time (10:30 PM IST) on March 24.
During this timeframe, potential petitioners and their representatives are required to utilize a USCIS online account to electronically register each beneficiary for the selection process and remit the corresponding registration fee for each individual.
The registration fee is set at $215. Additionally, USCIS indicated that the fiscal year 2026 H-1B cap will implement the beneficiary-centric selection process that was introduced in fiscal year 2025. The U.S. fiscal year begins on October 1.
US H-1B Visa New Rules – 2025
Indians represent the primary recipients of H-1B visas, which facilitate the entry of top talent and expertise from around the globe. A significant number of highly skilled professionals from India secure the majority of H-1B visas, which are capped at 65,000 annually by Congressional mandate, along with an additional 20,000 allocated to individuals who have obtained advanced degrees from U.S. institutions.
As per the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the new beneficiary-centric approach will allow for the selection of registrations based on individual beneficiaries rather than by the registration itself. This revised method aims to mitigate the risk of fraud and guarantees that each beneficiary has an equal opportunity for selection, irrespective of the number of registrations submitted on their behalf by employers.
Should a sufficient number of unique beneficiaries be submitted by March 24, the agency will conduct a random selection of these beneficiaries and notify them through their USCIS online accounts. Conversely, if the number of unique beneficiaries falls short, all properly submitted registrations for unique beneficiaries during the initial registration period will be selected, as stated by the agency.
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