U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it has received enough petitions to meet the congressionally mandated cap for H-1B visas for fiscal year (FY) 2026. This includes the 65,000 regular cap-subject petitions and the 20,000 petitions under the U.S. advanced degree exemption, commonly known as the "master's cap."
Quick Hits
- USCIS has reached the FY 2026 H-1B visa cap, which includes the 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa U.S. advanced degree exemption ("master's cap").
- USCIS will continue to accept and process cap-exempt H-1B petitions.
USCIS will not conduct any additional rounds of H-1B registration selections for FY 2026, as it has received enough petitions to meet this year's visa cap.
USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions that are exempt from the cap. This includes petitions filed for current H-1B workers who have been previously counted against the cap and still retain their cap number.
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