USCIS reaches FY 2027 H-1B visa cap — no more new petitions accepted for this fiscal year

USCIS announced on July 17, 2026, that it received enough petitions to reach both the fiscal year 2027 regular H-1B visa cap (65,000) and the advanced degree exemption cap (20,000 numbers for workers with U.S. master's degrees or higher) effective immediately.

Effective upon the announcement, USCIS ceased accepting new H-1B cap petitions for FY2027. Petitions filed after the cap is reached are rejected, not queued for the following fiscal year.

Critically, any H-1B petition for FY2027 must include an employment start date of October 1, 2026, or later (and within 6 months of the receipt date). USCIS will reject petitions specifying start dates earlier than October 1, 2026.

USCIS continues to accept and process H-1B petitions that are exempt from the numerical cap, such as: - Extensions of status for workers already in H-1B status - Change-of-employer petitions for current H-1B workers - Petitions for workers at certain designated institutions (universities, research institutes, nonprofit organizations engaged in research) - Petitions for returning workers (who had previous H-1B status within the prior six years)

Employers seeking to hire specialty occupation workers for FY2027 who do not fall into a cap exemption will need to wait until the FY2028 H-1B registration period, expected to open in early 2027.