A new H-1B worker subject to the annual cap cannot begin employment before October 1, the first day of the federal fiscal year. That default H-1B start date does not apply to everyone. Workers moving between H-1B employers can usually start the day the new petition is filed, workers hired by cap-exempt organizations can start whenever the petition is approved, and workers extending with the same employer transition seamlessly from one authorized period to the next. The date that applies to you turns on your current status, your employer, and whether you have already been counted against the cap.
Why New Cap-Subject Workers Wait Until October 1
Congress tied the H-1B annual cap to the federal fiscal year, which begins October 1. The cap allows 65,000 new H-1B visas per year, plus 20,000 reserved for workers with a U.S. master’s degree or higher.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-1B Cap Season Because demand outstrips supply, USCIS runs an electronic registration lottery each March. For FY 2027, the registration window opened on March 4, 2026, with a $215 fee per registration.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. FY 2027 H-1B Cap Initial Registration Period Opens on March 4
Selected employers then file a full Form I-129 petition. Even when USCIS approves that petition months early, the worker cannot legally start until October 1. Working before that date is a status violation and can trigger removal proceedings and future bars on reentry.
Filing Cannot Happen More Than Six Months Out
Employers cannot file Form I-129 more than six months before the requested start date. For a cap-subject petition targeting October 1, the earliest filing date is April 1.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-1B Electronic Registration Frequently Asked Questions Earlier filings are rejected and fees returned. The certified Labor Condition Application must be in hand first, and DOL processing typically takes about seven business days.
Entering the U.S. Before Your Start Date
You do not have to time your flight for October 1 exactly. Federal regulations allow H-1B workers to enter the United States up to 10 days before the start of their authorized validity period.4eCFR. 8 CFR 214.1 – Requirements for Admission, Extension, and Maintenance of Status You cannot work during those 10 days. The same regulation grants another 10 days after your validity period ends so you can wrap up and depart.
How Your H-1B Actually Activates
If you processed your visa at a U.S. consulate abroad, your status begins when you enter the U.S. on or after the petition’s start date. If you were already in the country on another visa such as F-1 or L-1 and filed a change-of-status request, your status converts to H-1B automatically on the petition’s start date, without leaving the country.
The distinction matters most for travel. If you leave the U.S. while a change-of-status request is pending, USCIS will deny it, and you will need to go through consular processing instead. That can add weeks or months.
Cap-Exempt Employers: Start Any Time of Year
Not every H-1B petition competes for one of the 85,000 slots. Federal law exempts institutions of higher education, nonprofits related to or affiliated with such institutions, nonprofit research organizations, and governmental research organizations.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1184 – Admission of Nonimmigrants These employers file year-round and choose any start date that fits the role, subject to the six-month advance filing rule. A university hiring a researcher for a January or mid-semester start can have the worker begin as soon as USCIS approves the petition.
If you already hold H-1B status through a cap-exempt employer and want to add a concurrent position at a for-profit company, that second petition does not require the lottery either. Your cap-exempt employment counted you already, so additional H-1B employers can file for concurrent employment at any time. The new employer still needs its own certified LCA and its own Form I-129 marked as concurrent employment.
Transfers: Start When the New Petition Is Filed
Workers already in H-1B status who move to a new employer benefit from the portability rules added by the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act. You can begin working for the new employer as soon as that employer files a non-frivolous H-1B petition, without waiting for USCIS to approve it.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1184 – Admission of Nonimmigrants Your work authorization then continues until the new petition is decided. If it is ultimately denied, your authorization to work for the new employer ends at that point.
Three conditions must be met: you were lawfully admitted to the U.S., your new employer filed the petition before your current authorized stay expired, and you have not worked without authorization since your last admission.7U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 62W – What Is Portability and to Whom Does It Apply The new employer must also have an approved LCA covering the work.
The Travel Trap During a Pending Transfer
Portability has a catch. If you leave the country while the new petition is pending, you will need a valid H-1B visa stamp in your passport to reenter. If your old stamp has expired or names a different employer, you may need a consular appointment before returning, which can push back your effective start date by weeks. Plan international travel carefully, or wait until the new petition is approved.
Extensions With Your Current Employer
When you are staying with the same employer, the new authorization period begins the day after your current one expires. The key is filing on time. If your employer submits the extension petition before your current I-94 expiration date, you can keep working for up to 240 days while USCIS decides.
Missing the deadline has serious consequences. If the petition is not filed before your authorized stay expires, you lose legal status and must stop working immediately. There is no grace period and no retroactive fix for a late extension.
Cap-Gap for F-1 Students Bridging to H-1B
Foreign students moving from F-1 to H-1B often see their Optional Practical Training expire in the summer, before an October 1 H-1B start. The cap-gap provision bridges that period by automatically extending both F-1 status and work authorization while the H-1B petition remains pending or approved with a requested change of status.
A rule change effective January 17, 2025, starting with the FY 2026 registration cycle, extends cap-gap protection through April 1 of the relevant fiscal year, rather than ending it on October 1 as the old rule did.8Study in the States. Recent H-1B Rule Extends F-1 Cap-Gap Extension The change matters because H-1B petitions are not always fully adjudicated by October 1, and the old rule left students in a gap.
If the H-1B petition is denied, withdrawn, revoked, or rejected, the cap-gap extension ends immediately. The student then has a 60-day grace period to depart, measured from the termination date or the program end date, whichever is later.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 That grace period disappears entirely if the denial was based on a status violation, misrepresentation, or fraud.
When Your Employer Must Start Paying You
Once the start date arrives, the employer must pay the required wage even if there is no work to assign yet. The Department of Labor calls this “nonproductive time,” and the employer owes the full LCA wage whenever the lack of work stems from the employer’s own circumstances, such as an unready project or a pending client contract.10U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 62I – Must an H-1B Employer Pay for Nonproductive Time
The wage obligation begins at the earliest of these events: when you first make yourself available for work, such as attending orientation; no later than 30 days after you are first admitted to the U.S. on the H-1B petition; or, if you were already in the country, generally no later than 60 days after the approval date on the Form I-797 notice.10U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 62I – Must an H-1B Employer Pay for Nonproductive Time Employers who delay your start for their own convenience, a practice sometimes called benching, still owe the full salary listed on the LCA. DOL investigates complaints on this.