The United States has announced the start of the H-1B visa registration process for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, bringing good news to those aspiring to work in America. Every year, around 65,000 Indians secure H-1B visas to work in the U.S. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has officially confirmed that the H-1B visa cap registration will begin on March 7 and conclude on March 24.

The registration process will open at 10:30 AM on March 7 and close at 10:30 PM on March 24. American tech companies use these visas to hire skilled professionals from countries like India and China. This year, the H-1B visa registration fee has significantly increased from $10 to $125. Applicants must register electronically, and petitioners or legal representatives are required to use a USCIS online account to pay the registration fee. USCIS aims to complete the selection process by October 1, the start of the U.S. fiscal year.

The beneficiary-centric selection process introduced during Joe Biden’s tenure will continue this year. Under this system, regardless of the number of registrations made, an applicant can enter the lottery only once using their passport number as a unique identifier. Every year, the U.S. government issues 65,000 H-1B visas for skilled foreign professionals, with India and China receiving the highest share. An additional 20,000 visas are allocated to foreign students who have completed higher education in STEM fields at U.S. universities, bringing the total number of H-1B visas issued to Indian applicants to around 85,000 annually.