The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has begun announcing the results of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 H-1B visa lottery.
Applicants can verify their selection status through their employer, legal representative, or the USCIS online portal.
If an applicant’s status is marked as “Selected,” they have cleared the lottery stage, and their employer must proceed with filing an H-1B petition. However, if the status remains “Submitted,” it means the application is still in the lottery pool. USCIS is expected to finalize selections by April 1, 2025. If the status does not change to “Selected” after this date, the applicant was not chosen in this round.
The registration period for FY 2026 ran from March 7 to March 24, 2025, during which U.S. employers submitted applications for skilled foreign workers in industries like IT, healthcare, and engineering. This year, a key change was the significant increase in the H-1B registration fee—from $10 to $215 per applicant. According to USCIS, this 2050% fee hike is meant to cover administrative costs and deter frivolous applications.
To enhance fairness and efficiency in visa allocation, USCIS has also introduced new procedural measures. These adjustments aim to prevent multiple registrations by the same applicants and increase opportunities for legitimate candidates.
Meanwhile, U.S. State Department data indicates a sharp rise in student visa rejections. An analysis by The Indian Express found that 41% of international student visa applications were denied in the last fiscal year (October 2023–September 2024), a notable increase from the 2014 rejection rate, which was nearly half of the current figure.
Applicants awaiting H-1B lottery results should remain attentive as USCIS continues to issue selection notifications in phases.
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