Compliance Stuff

  It’s that time of year! Registration for the H-1B cap lottery for Fiscal Year 2026 will begin the day after tomorrow: Friday, March 7. Here are seven things that employers need to know. No. 1: What is the H-1B visa, and which roles qualify? The H-1B visa is available for foreign nationals employed in “specialty occupations.” “Specialty occupations” require the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge. This basically means the role requires a U.S. bachelor’s or higher degree in a directly related specific specialty, or its equivalent. “Specialty occupations” include roles like Software Developers, Data Analysts, or Scientists. No. 2: What exactly is H-1B cap and what is the lottery process? Congress allows for 65,000 new H-1B visas each fiscal year, with an additional 20,000 for beneficiaries with U.S. Master’s degrees or higher related to the occupation. The H-1B is one of the most popular visas in the United States, and there are more appli...

  Employers intending to sponsor foreign workers for H-1B visas can begin submitting registrations for the fiscal 2026 H-1B cap on March 7. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)  announced  that the registration period will open at noon ET on March 7 and run through noon ET on March 24. Late registrations will not be accepted. Prospective H-1B cap-subject petitioners or their representatives are required to use a USCIS online account to register each worker for the selection process and pay the associated $215 H-1B registration fee for each registration. The increased fee is new this year, up from $10 in prior years. The fee increase  was announced in 2024 , as part of a broader USCIS fee rule. For the second consecutive year, USCIS will use a  beneficiary-centric registration selection system , rather than selecting from among the submitted registrations as a whole, in order to mitigate fraud. In other words, each worker will only be entered into ...