USCIS has announced the need to select additional registrations for unique beneficiaries to reach the H-1B cap allocation, following an initial random selection in March. Currently, the congressionally annually mandated cap commonly known as the ‘regular cap’ of H-1B visas is 65,000.

The second round of selection for the regular cap will include previously submitted registrations that indicated eligibility for the master’s cap along with those that indicated only eligibility for the regular cap. Those with selected registrations will have their USCIS online accounts updated to include a selection notice, which includes details of when and where to file.

In March, USCIS conducted an initial random selection on the submitted electronic registrations for the fiscal year 2025 H-1B cap, including for beneficiaries eligible for the advanced degree exemption.

Only those petitioners with selected registrations for FY 2025 are eligible to file H-1B cap-subject petitions during the filing period on their registration selection notice. The initial filing period for those with selected registrations for FY 2025 was from April 1 through June 30, 2024.

Soon, USCIS will select additional registrations for unique beneficiaries from previously submitted electronic registrations using a random selection process, and they will notify prospective petitioners with selected registrations from this second round of selection that they are eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition for the beneficiary named in the applicable selected registration.

USCIS will announce when they have completed this second process of selections and notifications. H-1B cap-subject petitions, including those eligible for advanced degree exemption, cannot be filed unless based on a valid and selected registration for the named beneficiary. You may file an H-1B petition no more than 6 months before the employment start date requested for the beneficiary.

USCIS will not be conducting a second selection for the advanced degree exemption (the master’s cap), as enough master’s cap registrations were already selected and sufficient petitions were received based on those registrations as projected to meet the FY 2025 masters cap numerical allocation.

The H-1B program allows companies and other employers in the United States to temporarily employ foreign workers in occupations that require the theoretical and practical application of highly specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or higher in the specific specialty, or its equivalent.

Timelines

USCIS had extended the initial registration period for FY 2025 H-1B cap, from March 6 to March 25, 2024.

Thereafter, USCIS considered properly filed paper H-1B cap subject petitions received on July 1, 2024, as timely filed as June 30 was Sunday.

Starting April 1, 2024, all paper-filed Form I-129 petitions requesting H-1B1 or H-1B classification, including concurrent forms, had to be filed at a USCIS lockbox facility as USCIS service centers no longer accepted them.