What Is the Last Date to File an H-1B Petition?

For the FY 2027 H-1B cap, the last date to file an H-1B petition was June 30, 2026, the close of the 90-day filing window that opened April 1, 2026 for employers whose registrations were selected in the lottery.¹ Petitions that arrive at USCIS outside that window are rejected without review. That is the deadline most people are asking about, but the H-1B program has several other filing deadlines — for extensions, transfers, and F-1 cap-gap situations — and each runs on its own clock. Missing any of them can cost a year of waiting or, worse, legal status.

The 90-Day Cap Petition Window

Once USCIS selects a registration in the H-1B lottery, the sponsoring employer has 90 days to submit a complete Form I-129 petition. For FY 2027, that window ran April 1 through June 30, 2026. The window is a hard cutoff. There is no grace period, no supplement mechanism after the fact, and no way to fix an incomplete filing once June 30 has passed.¹

Ninety days feels generous until you build the petition. The employer needs a certified Labor Condition Application from the Department of Labor before filing, and DOL certification typically takes 7 to 10 calendar days.² Starting the LCA in the final weeks of the window is one of the most common reasons petitions miss the deadline. The petition itself also requires evidence of the specialty occupation, employer financials, and proof of the beneficiary’s qualifying education or equivalent experience. Incomplete filings are rejected, and rejection after June 30 means starting over next fiscal year.

Registration Comes First

You cannot file a cap-subject H-1B petition unless the beneficiary’s registration was submitted during the electronic registration window and then selected. For FY 2027, that window opened at noon Eastern on March 4, 2026 and closed at noon Eastern on March 19, 2026.³ There is no late-registration option. An employer that missed March 19 could not participate in the FY 2027 lottery at all, regardless of how prepared the rest of the petition was.

Registrations that are not selected in the initial round stay in “Submitted” status. USCIS may run additional selection rounds later in the fiscal year if the cap is not filled, so an unselected registration can still convert into a filing window months after the initial selection.⁴

Extension Deadline: The I-94 Expiration Date

For a worker already in H-1B status, the filing deadline for an extension is the expiration date on the I-94. USCIS must receive the extension petition before that date. A timely filed extension lets the worker keep working for up to 240 days while USCIS decides the case.¹ One day late and the worker is out of status and accumulating unlawful presence.

H-1B status is initially granted for up to three years and can be extended to a maximum of six.⁵ Workers with an employer-sponsored green card case in progress can qualify for extensions beyond that six-year cap: one-year increments if a labor certification or I-140 was filed at least 365 days earlier, and up to three-year increments if the worker has an approved I-140 but cannot file for adjustment because of per-country visa backlogs.

Transfer Deadline: Before Current Status Expires

An H-1B worker can start a job with a new employer as soon as that employer files a nonfrivolous H-1B petition on the worker’s behalf, without waiting for approval. This portability right continues until USCIS decides the new petition.⁵ The deadline is built into the rule: the new petition must be filed while the worker’s current status is still valid. Wait until after the I-94 expires and portability does not apply.

The 60-Day Grace Period After Job Loss

When H-1B employment ends before the authorized validity period runs out, whether by layoff, termination, or resignation, the worker gets up to 60 consecutive days to line up a new sponsor, file for a change of status, or prepare to depart.⁶ The clock is calendar days, not business days. During those 60 days the worker cannot be employed unless a new employer files an H-1B petition that triggers portability.⁷ If the 60 days pass with no action, the worker is out of status.

Cap-Exempt Employers Have No Filing Deadline

The June 30 cap-season deadline does not apply to every H-1B employer. Institutions of higher education, their related or affiliated nonprofit entities, nonprofit research organizations, and government research organizations are exempt from the annual cap.⁸ These employers can file H-1B petitions at any point in the year without going through registration or the lottery.

The “affiliated nonprofit” category is narrower than it sounds. The nonprofit must have a formal written affiliation agreement with a university establishing an active working relationship for research or education, research or education must be a fundamental part of the nonprofit’s activity, and the H-1B worker has to spend at least half their time performing duties at or for a cap-exempt entity. USCIS scrutinizes these claims closely.

Cap-Gap Protection Depends on Timely Filing

F-1 students whose Optional Practical Training expires before October 1 rely on cap-gap protection to bridge the gap between OPT and the start of H-1B status. The protection is automatic, but only when a cap-subject H-1B petition has been timely filed on the student’s behalf, the petition requests a change of status effective October 1, and the petition is nonfrivolous.⁹ The extension runs until the H-1B start date or April 1 of the relevant fiscal year, whichever comes first.

Protection vanishes the moment the H-1B petition is denied, withdrawn, revoked, rejected, or not selected in the lottery. It also does not apply where the employer files through consular processing rather than a change of status, because there is no pending change of status to bridge.

Late Filing Is Rarely Excused

USCIS has narrow discretion to accept a late-filed extension. The worker must show the delay resulted from extraordinary circumstances beyond their control, they have not otherwise violated their status, and they remain a bona fide nonimmigrant with no removal proceedings pending. Not realizing the I-94 was about to expire does not meet that standard. The longer the gap between expiration and filing, the less likely relief becomes.

Travel While a Petition Is Pending

The filing deadline is not the only trap. Leaving the U.S. while a change-of-status petition is pending causes USCIS to deny the change of status, and the pending petition cannot support re-admission at the border.¹⁰ The worker would need to wait for the underlying petition to be approved and then get a visa stamp at a consulate abroad before returning. Workers already in H-1B status who travel during a pending extension face less risk but still need a valid, unexpired H-1B visa stamp to re-enter; an expired stamp means a consular appointment before returning.

1
eCFR. 8 CFR 214.2 – Special Requirements for Admission, Extension, and Maintenance of Status
2
U.S. Department of Labor. H-1B Labor Condition Application
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. FY 2027 H-1B Cap Initial Registration Period Opens on March 4
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-1B Electronic Registration Process
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1184 – Admission of Nonimmigrants
6
eCFR. 8 CFR 214.1 – Requirements for Admission, Extension, and Maintenance of Status
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Options for Nonimmigrant Workers Following Termination of Employment
8
U.S. Government Publishing Office. Public Law 106-313 – American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act of 2000
9
U.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
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. FAQs for Individuals in H-1B Nonimmigrant Status