The 2025 H-1B cap registration period will begin at 12 p.m. Eastern time on March 7, 2025, and will conclude at 12 p.m. Eastern on March 24, 2025. Prospective petitioners are required to register each beneficiary online and pay a registration fee of $215. That fee is the one significant change from last year’s program, when the fee was $10.

Following the initial registration period, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will conduct a random selection of registrations and notify selected registrants through their online accounts by March 31, 2025. Selected registrants will receive a notification through their respective USCIS online accounts. Only those with selected registrations will be eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition, including petitions for advanced degree exemptions.

The H-1B visa program allows U.S. employers to hire international workers in specialized fields such as technology, engineering, and medicine. However, there is a statutory limit on the number of new H-1B visas that can be issued each fiscal year. The annual cap is 65,000 H1-B visas, with an additional 20,000 visas available for applicants who have earned a U.S. master's degree or higher. The H-1B lottery system is in place due to the high demand for H-1B visas, which exceeds the annual cap set by the U.S. government. When the number of registrations exceeds the cap, USCIS conducts a random lottery to select which petitions will be processed. 

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