For the FY 2027 cap, the H-1B filing last date has two parts: employers must complete electronic registration between noon Eastern on March 4 and 5:00 p.m. Eastern on March 19, 2026, and any employer whose registration is selected then has 90 days from the date on its Registration Selection Notice to file the full Form I-129 petition.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-1B Cap Season Miss either one and the employer is locked out of the cap for that fiscal year.
The Registration Deadline
Every cap-subject H-1B starts with electronic registration. The FY 2027 window opens at noon Eastern on March 4, 2026, and closes at 5:00 p.m. Eastern on March 19, 2026.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-1B Electronic Registration Process During that window an employer or its authorized representative logs into a USCIS online account, submits a registration for each intended worker, and pays a $215 fee per beneficiary.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. FY 2027 H-1B Cap Initial Registration Period Opens on March 4
Each registration requires the employer’s legal business name, the beneficiary’s full name, passport details, and the offered wage level. An employer can submit only one registration per beneficiary per fiscal year, and USCIS invalidates all of that employer’s registrations for a worker if it detects duplicates. Different employers can each register the same person, but every registrant must attest under penalty of perjury that it has not coordinated with other entities to inflate a beneficiary’s selection odds.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-1B Electronic Registration Process
There is no late registration option. An employer that misses 5:00 p.m. Eastern on March 19 cannot file a cap-subject petition for FY 2027, regardless of how strong the case would have been. The only next chance is the following spring’s window.
The 90-Day Petition Filing Window
Selection is not filing. When USCIS selects a registration, it issues a Registration Selection Notice that specifies a filing window of at least 90 days. The employer must submit a complete Form I-129 during that window. A mailed petition must be postmarked inside the window; an online petition must be submitted before it closes. A petition received after the deadline is rejected regardless of the worker’s qualifications.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-1B Cap Season
One narrow safety net exists. If a petition is rejected because it was sent to the wrong service center, the employer can refile at the correct location, but only if the 90-day window has not yet expired.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-1B Electronic Registration Frequently Asked Questions That is the only recovery. A lost package or last-minute document scramble in the final days of the window is where most preventable failures happen.
One further note on FY 2027 filings: a presidential proclamation issued September 19, 2025, requires a $100,000 payment through Pay.gov before an employer files an H-1B petition for a worker currently outside the United States, and USCIS will deny any covered petition that lacks proof of payment or a national interest exception.5The White House. Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers Workers already in the U.S. on another valid status are not subject to it. Two federal lawsuits challenging the proclamation were filed in late 2025, so employers should check the current enforcement status before filing.
Get the LCA Certified Before the Window Runs
Every H-1B petition must include a certified Labor Condition Application from the Department of Labor.6eCFR. 20 CFR 655.705 – What Federal Agencies Are Involved in the H-1B and H-1B1 Programs Employers file LCAs electronically through the Department of Labor’s FLAG system, and processing typically takes about seven business days. An LCA can be submitted up to six months before the intended employment start date and remains valid for up to three years.
Because the 90-day petition clock starts on the selection notice date, waiting until selection to begin the LCA eats into the deadline with no guarantee of quick turnaround. Employers commonly start the LCA during the registration window so that a certified LCA is in hand the moment a selection notice arrives.
Additional Selection Rounds Have Their Own 90-Day Clocks
If initial selections do not fill all available slots, USCIS conducts additional selection rounds, typically in late summer or early fall. When a new round occurs, USCIS notifies employers whose registrations were not picked the first time, and each notification carries its own 90-day filing window specific to that round.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-1B Cap Season
The timing of additional rounds is unpredictable because it depends on how many initial selections translate into actual petitions. Employers who were not selected in the first round should keep their documentation current and monitor their USCIS online accounts through at least the end of the calendar year. Missing a secondary selection’s 90-day window forfeits that opportunity permanently.
Deadlines for Transfers, Extensions, and Job Loss
An H-1B worker changing employers does not go back through the lottery. The new employer files a new Form I-129, and under H-1B portability the worker can begin employment as soon as that petition is properly filed, before USCIS decides the case.7eCFR. 8 CFR 214.2 – Special Requirements for Admission, Extension, and Maintenance of Status
The controlling last date here is the expiration on the worker’s current I-94, not the federal fiscal year. The new petition must be filed before the authorized stay expires, and the new employer must submit an unexpired, certified LCA covering the same type of work.8U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 62W – What Is Portability and to Whom Does It Apply File a day late and portability does not apply. The worker cannot legally begin the new job. Extensions of stay work the same way: file before the current authorized period ends.
Layoffs and terminations trigger a separate deadline. An H-1B worker whose employment ends early generally has up to 60 days, or until the I-94 expires, whichever comes first, to find a new sponsoring employer, change to a different status, or depart. If a new employer files a transfer petition within that 60-day window, the worker can remain in the U.S. while it is pending. Filing on the very last day is risky: USCIS may approve the transfer but deny the extension of stay, which forces the worker to leave and get a new visa stamp abroad before returning. The grace period is discretionary, not automatic, so the clock should be treated as starting the day employment ends.
Cap-Gap Deadlines for F-1 Students
F-1 students on Optional Practical Training often face a gap between the end of OPT and the October 1 H-1B start date. Federal regulations bridge that gap automatically, but only if the deadlines are met.9U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Extension of Post Completion Optional Practical Training (OPT) and F-1 Status for Eligible Students Under the H-1B Cap-Gap Regulations
To qualify, the employer must file a cap-subject H-1B petition requesting a change of status while the student’s F-1 status is still valid. “Still valid” includes the 60-day departure grace period, with an important catch: students who have already entered that 60-day period get an F-1 status extension but no continued work authorization. Only students whose OPT employment authorization was active at the time of filing keep working during the cap-gap period.
The extension is automatic. Students do not file anything separate and do not receive a new Employment Authorization Document. The school’s designated official issues an updated Form I-20 showing the extended dates, which serves as proof of authorization. The extension lasts until April 1 of the relevant fiscal year or the H-1B start date, whichever comes first. Cap-gap does not apply to beneficiaries of petitions from cap-exempt employers, to petitions requesting consular processing rather than change of status, or when the registration is not selected in the lottery.10Study in the States. F-1 Cap Gap Extension
Cap-Exempt Employers Have No Annual Last Date
Not every employer is on the spring calendar. Federal law exempts institutions of higher education and their related or affiliated nonprofits, nonprofit research organizations, and governmental research organizations from the annual cap entirely.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. 1184 – Admission of Nonimmigrants These employers file H-1B petitions year-round. Their filing last date is set by internal hiring needs, not by a registration window or 90-day selection notice. A certified LCA and the applicable filing fees are still required.