On July 17, 2027, USCIS announced they had officially received enough H-1B petitions to reach the Fiscal Year 2027 (“FY2027”) annual cap of 85,000 visas. Employers had until June 30, 2026, to file H-1B petitions for beneficiaries selected in this year's lottery. To date, USCIS has not specified how many total H-1B cap cases were received during this filing window.
With the filing period now closed and the cap met, USCIS has confirmed that it will not conduct a second H-1B lottery for FY 2027. This means employers who were not selected during the initial registration process will not have another opportunity to file a cap-subject H-1B petition for FY 2027.
Employers seeking to hire foreign talent should now begin planning for the FY 2028 H-1B registration season or explore alternative visa options for prospective employees who were not selected this year.