The US has already reached the numerical allocations for H-1B visas for the fiscal year 2025. USCIS announced back in April about the H-1B visa cap registration process updates for 2025. Out of 120,603 selected registrations, there were 114,017 candidates for initial selection including the master’s cap.
Registration and Applications Timeline for FY 2025
The timeline for registration dates is as follows:
| Dates | Actions |
| Feb. 28 | Petitioners and registrants could begin creating H-1B registrant accounts |
| March 6 | H-1B registration period opened |
| March 25 | H-1B registration period closed |
| March 31 | Date by which USCIS intended to notify selected registrants |
| April 1 | The earliest date that FY 2025 H-1B cap-subject petitions based on the registrations selected during the initial FY 2025 selection period might be filed. |
What is the H-1B Cap online registration process?
In US, the electronic registration process for H-1B provides a chance for every candidate to be selected on merit. Interested applicants, can apply through the online process of registration by paying the fee (for H-1B registration tool set at $215). For FY 2025, the registration pool has been already closed. The registration portal was open from 6 March 2024 till 26 March 2024. Interested candidates used the official USCIS Portal (for account creation) to apply. The fee for online registration has also been increased from $10 to $215 for FY2025. Bear in mind please this fee is non-refundable.
H-1 or H-1B1 including concurrent Form I-907 Paper-Based Application
Paper-based application provisions are still available. As per USCIS from April 1, 2024, all paper-filed Form I-129 petitions requesting H-1 or H-1B1 (HSC) classification, including those with a concurrent Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, and those with concurrently filed Form I-539 and/or Form I-765, must be filed at a USCIS lockbox facility.
H-1B Cap online registration FY 2025
There has been a slight decrease in the number of beneficiary registrations for FY 2025 442,000) compared with last FY2024 (446,000) including the applications submitted on behalf of beneficiaries. Overall, an average of 1.06 registrations per beneficiary has been recorded this year in FY 2025 which is more than 38 per cent less than last year. The registration numbers are:
| unique beneficiaries | approximately 442,000 |
| unique employers | approximately 52,700 |
| eligible registrations | 470,342 |
The applications and registrations data from FY2021 to FY2025:
| Cap Fiscal Year | Total Registrations | Eligible Registration | Eligible Registrations for Beneficiaries with No Other Eligible Registrations | Eligible Registrations for Beneficiaries with Multiple Eligible Registrations | Selected Registrations |
| 2021 | 274,237 | 269,424 | 241,299 | 28,125 | 124,415 |
| 2022 | 308,613 | 301,447 | 211,304 | 90,143 | 131,924 |
| 2023 | 483,927 | 474,421 | 309,241 | 165,180 | 127,600 |
| 2024 | 780,884 | 758,994 | 350,103 | 408,891 | 188,400 |
| 2025 | 479,953 | 470,342 | 423,028 | 47,314 | 120,603 |