USCIS's published registration statistics, cap season by cap season.
USCIS selected 120,141 of 343,981 eligible registrations for the FY2026 H-1B cap — a 34.9% selection rate. The rate has ranged from 24.8% to 46.2% across the seasons below, driven almost entirely by how big the registration pool was that year.
| Cap FY | Eligible registrations | Selected | Selection rate | Selections per cap slot | Selected by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2021 | 269,424 | 124,415 | 46.2% | 1.46× | Per registration |
| FY2022 | 301,447 | 131,924 | 43.8% | 1.55× | Per registration |
| FY2023 | 474,421 | 127,600 | 26.9% | 1.5× | Per registration |
| FY2024 | 758,994 | 188,400 | 24.8% | 2.22× | Per registration |
| FY2025 | 470,342 | 135,137 | 28.7% | 1.59× | Per beneficiary |
| FY2026 | 343,981 | 120,141 | 34.9% | 1.41× | Per beneficiary |
Selection rate is selections divided by eligible registrations. "Selections per cap slot" is the same selections against the 85,000 statutory cap: USCIS deliberately selects more than the cap because not every selected registrant files and not every petition is approved, and a season that needed a larger multiple is one where more selections were required to fill the same slots. Selections are counted across all rounds a season ran.
Total across multiple selection rounds — USCIS selected again when too few selectees filed, so this rate overstates a single round's odds.
Total across multiple selection rounds — USCIS selected again when too few selectees filed, so this rate overstates a single round's odds.
The largest registration pool on record. Over half of these registrations were for beneficiaries entered by more than one employer.
First season under the beneficiary-centric rule: one entry per person however many employers register them. 127,624 distinct beneficiaries were selected, a 28.9% per-beneficiary rate.
The registration fee rose from $10 to $215 for this season, alongside a cooler hiring market — both cut registrations independently of the counting rule.
Every rate above is a rate of selection. A selected registration earns the right to file the I-129 petition inside the filing window; the petition still has to be filed and approved, and a real share are denied. The FY2021 and FY2022 rates are also inflated by the extra selection rounds those seasons ran after too few selectees filed, so they overstate what a single draw was worth.
What the single yearly rate hides is what set the odds before FY2025: how many employers registered the same person. Conditioned on that, the one rate splits in two — the full decomposition, built from these same USCIS totals.
120,141 of 343,981 eligible registrations were selected for FY2026 — 34.9%. These are USCIS's own published registration statistics.
From FY2025, USCIS selects by beneficiary rather than by registration, so a person entered by ten employers has the same odds as a person entered by one. Before that, registering the same beneficiary through several employers multiplied their chances, and over half of FY2024 registrations were for multi-registered beneficiaries.
The cap is fixed at 85,000 while the registration pool is not: it ran from 269,424 in FY2021 to 758,994 at its peak. A rate is selections divided by that pool, so it falls when registrations surge and rises when they fall. The $10-to-$215 registration fee and the beneficiary-centric rule both shrank the pool, and a cooler hiring market moved it too.
No. Selection only earns the right to file the I-129 petition within the filing window. The petition still has to be filed and approved, and USCIS denies a real share of them. Every rate on this page is a rate of selection, nothing more.
Cap season calendar · Second-round history
Registration and selection totals are USCIS's own published H-1B electronic registration statistics; the change of selection basis is the FY2025 beneficiary-centric rule. Petition receipt dates come from the I-129 microdata released under the Freedom of Information Act — sourced from USCIS, obtained by Bloomberg — covering cap-subject petitions that were selected and filed in FY2021–FY2024.
Selection figures last revised August 10, 2026. Nothing on this page is legal advice.