The H-1B visa program, which allows US employers to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations, has undergone significant rule changes in recent years. The most consequential shift came through a final rule published by USCIS in January 2025, which restructured how lottery registrations are counted and validated - directly affecting employers, staffing agencies, and the workers they sponsor.

Why the Old System Was Changed

Under the previous registration model, each registration submitted on behalf of a unique beneficiary counted as one entry in the lottery. This created a structural problem: employers and third-party staffing companies could file multiple registrations for the same foreign worker through different petitioning entities, multiplying that individual’s chances of selection without any legitimate increase in job demand.

USCIS documented this manipulation in rulemaking records accompanying the 2025 final rule. The agency found that the number of registrations submitted had ballooned from roughly 308,000 in FY2021 to over 780,000 in FY2024, while the underlying cap remained fixed at 85,000 visas (65,000 for the regular cap and 20,000 for the US advanced degree exemption). This surge was not driven by a proportional increase in genuine job offers but by duplicate registrations for the same workers.

The core legal basis for the reform rests in 8 CFR 214.2(h), which governs H-1B petition requirements, along with the agency’s broader authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act to administer the annual cap selection process. USCIS argued that the previous first-come, first-served and then lottery-based systems both failed to prevent coordinated registration abuse at scale.

The practical result was that workers with multiple registrations filed by different employers - a common arrangement in the IT staffing industry - had statistically higher selection odds than workers with a single bona fide job offer. This skewed outcomes away from what Congress intended when it set annual numerical limits on the visa category.

What the New Beneficiary-Centric Selection Model Does

The 2025 rule introduced a beneficiary-centric selection model. Instead of selecting among individual registrations, USCIS now selects among unique beneficiaries. If a single foreign national has registrations submitted by three different employers, only one of those registrations will be entered into the lottery pool. The system identifies duplicate submissions using the beneficiary’s passport number and date of birth.

This change means that filing multiple registrations on behalf of the same person no longer improves that person’s odds of selection. All three of a worker’s registrations have the same combined probability as a single registration would have had under the new framework. If that beneficiary is selected, USCIS will randomly pick one of the submitted registrations to proceed to the petition stage, and the sponsoring employer tied to that registration will be notified.

Employers are still required to pay the $215 registration fee per submission during the registration window, which for FY2026 ran from March 7 to March 24, 2025. The fee is non-refundable regardless of selection outcome. Employers with selected registrations must then file a full Form I-129 petition, including supporting documentation demonstrating the specialty occupation requirement under 8 CFR 214.2(h)(4)(ii).

The rule also strengthens attestation requirements. Employers must now certify, under penalty of perjury, that each registration reflects a genuine, bona fide job offer and that the employer has not coordinated with other entities to file registrations for the same beneficiary solely to increase selection odds. Submitting registrations that do not represent legitimate employment intent can result in denial, revocation, and referral for fraud investigation under 18 U.S.C. § 1546.

One consequence employers should understand: if a worker with multiple registrations is selected and USCIS picks a registration from an employer the worker no longer intends to work for, that selected registration cannot simply be transferred to a preferred employer. The petition must be filed by the employer whose registration was chosen. Workers in this situation may need to wait for the following fiscal year or explore alternative visa categories.

Practical Implications for FY2026 and Beyond

For FY2026, USCIS announced selection results beginning in late March 2025. Selected registrants received notifications through their myUSCIS online accounts, and petitions for selected registrations were required to be filed between April 1 and June 30, 2025. Employers filing cap-subject petitions outside a valid selection window risk rejection without refund of the filing fee.

The filing fees themselves are no longer uniform across employer types following the FY2024 rule changes. Under 8 CFR 103.7 as amended, employers with 25 or fewer full-time equivalent employees in the United States pay a base Form I-129 filing fee of $730. Employers with 26 or more employees pay $730 as well, but the total cost increases substantially when accounting for the ACWIA training fee ($750 for small employers, $1,500 for large employers), the fraud prevention and detection fee ($500), and, where applicable, the additional $4,000 fee imposed on employers with 50 or more employees where more than 50 percent of the workforce holds H-1B or L-1 status under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016.

Premium processing remains available for an additional $2,805 fee (as of February 2024 USCIS fee schedule adjustments), which guarantees a decision within 15 business days. Standard processing times for Form I-129 H-1B petitions have ranged from 2 to 6 months depending on the service center and fiscal year volume, making premium processing a practical consideration for employers with firm start dates.

What Has Not Changed

Several fundamental H-1B requirements remain unchanged by the 2025 reform. The specialty occupation definition still requires a position that normally requires at least a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent in a specific field directly related to the job duties. USCIS continues to issue Requests for Evidence (RFEs) at relatively high rates in certain occupational categories, particularly information technology consulting roles, where the agency scrutinizes whether the duties constitute a specialty occupation and whether the employer-employee relationship is valid when a third-party worksite is involved.

Cap-exempt employers - including institutions of higher education, nonprofit research organizations, and government research organizations as defined under INA §214(g)(5) - are not subject to the lottery at all and may file Form I-129 petitions at any time of year. Workers already counted against the cap in a previous fiscal year may also be cap-exempt under the H-1B portability provisions of AC21, provided they are changing employers and meet the requirements under INA §214(n).

Steps Employers Should Take Now

Employers who participate in the H-1B lottery should audit their current registration practices before the FY2027 registration window opens, expected in early 2026. Any arrangement where a staffing company files a registration and a separate end-client employer also files for the same worker should be reviewed against the new bona fide job offer attestation requirements.

Legal counsel familiar with USCIS audit procedures should review cases where multiple registrations were historically filed for the same beneficiary, since the agency has indicated it will use its existing site visit authority under the H-1B program - administered through the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate - to verify claimed employment relationships. USCIS conducted over 25,000 H-1B site visits in FY2023 alone, and that enforcement posture has not diminished under the updated rule framework.

For foreign nationals currently outside the US who intend to pursue H-1B status, the earliest a cap-subject H-1B can take effect is October 1 of the fiscal year for which the petition is approved. A worker selected in the FY2026 lottery with an approved petition may begin employment no earlier than October 1, 2025.

This article is for general informational purposes only. Consult a licensed immigration attorney for advice specific to your situation.