US Closes H-1B Visa Lottery for FY2027 After Reaching Cap

The United States has officially closed its H-1B visa selection process for Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 after receiving enough petitions to meet the annual cap. In a July 17 announcement, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirmed there will be no second lottery for applicants who were not selected in the initial round. 

As a result, employers can no longer submit new cap-subject H-1B petitions for FY2027 unless they qualify under one of the programme's cap-exempt categories. The H-1B programme allows U.S. employers to temporarily hire foreign professionals in speciality occupations such as software engineering, healthcare, finance, and research. 

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USCIS Says Annual H-1B Cap Has Been Reached

In its announcement, USCIS said it had received enough petitions to meet both parts of the annual H-1B quota: the 65,000 regular visa cap and the additional 20,000 visas reserved for applicants with a U.S. master's degree or higher, commonly known as the master's cap.

"USCIS has received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated regular cap and the master's cap for fiscal year 2027," the agency said.

Because all 85,000 available visas have now been allocated, USCIS confirmed it will not hold a second lottery this year, unlike in some previous years when additional selections were needed to fill unused slots.