Urgent Alert: H-1B Registration Opens March 4 for 2027
- Shan Potts
- 24 minutes ago
- 2 min read
The waiting game is officially over. USCIS has confirmed the critical timeline for the Fiscal Year 2027 cap season, and the clock is ticking faster than many employers realize.
The most important deadline on your corporate immigration calendar is now set in stone: H-1B registration opens on March 4, 2026, at noon Eastern Time.
As of today, February 5th, that gives employers and their foreign national candidates exactly 27 days to finalize their legal and financial strategies before the electronic gates open. In the world of high-stakes business immigration, four weeks is not a long time—especially given the seismic shifts in how selections will be made this year. The window will remain open until noon Eastern Time on March 21, 2026.
Why the day H-1B registration opens is different this year
This year’s opening is unlike any before it. As we have detailed in previous client alerts, the era of the pure "random lottery" is dead. It has been replaced by the new wage-level weighted selection system implemented by the Department of Homeland Security.
Therefore, the rush towards the date when H-1B registration opens isn’t just about gathering basic biographical data to throw into a lottery drum. It is about ensuring those registrations are attached to salary levels that actually have a mathematical chance of selection under the new tiered priorities.
Filing a dozen Level 1 (entry wage) positions the moment the system goes live is now likely a waste of time, legal effort, and the $215 registration fee. The preparation phase over the next three weeks is crucial for determining if your candidates hit the Level 3 or Level 4 thresholds required for a high probability of selection under the new rules.
Finalizing strategy before H-1B registration opens
With less than a month remaining, the window for strategic adjustments is closing rapidly. If you have not conducted a comprehensive Wage Level Audit for every potential registrant on your roster, you are already behind.
Between now and the moment H-1B registration opens in March, employers must execute the following critical steps:
Confirm SOC Codes: Ensure the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code perfectly matches the job duties. The wrong code can artificially lower the required wage, hurting your selection chances, or raise it too high, costing the company money unnecessary salary bloat.
Analyze Salary Adjustments: If a critical candidate is currently sitting at a high Level 2 wage, you have only weeks to determine if a salary bump to Level 3 is financially viable to secure their visa. This internal budgeting process must happen now, not in March.
Technical Setup: Ensure your myUSCIS registrant accounts are active, accessible, and properly linked to your legal representative.
The period between today and the day H-1B registration opens will determine your company's engineering and tech talent pipeline for the next three to six years. Do not wait until the last week of February to organize your data.
27 Days to Secure Your Talent Pipeline.
The window is closing. If you wait until the last week of February to organize your salary data, you will be too late to make strategic adjustments. The decisions you make over the next four weeks will define your workforce for the next six years. Don't leave it to chance.
Comments