Updated November 11, 2026

H-1B visa submission date: registration, LCA and Form I-129 deadlines

An H-1B cap petition has two main submission dates: the initial electronic registration window in March and the 90-day Form I-129 petition filing window starting April 1. For the FY 2027 cap, USCIS opened electronic registration from March 4 at noon Eastern through March 19 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern, notified selected registrants by March 31, and began accepting full petitions on April 1 for employment starting October 1 or later. Before submitting Form I-129, your employer must also get a certified Labor Condition Application from the Department of Labor, which reviews applications within 7 working days.

Every H-1B submission date and deadline in order

When people ask for the H-1B visa submission date, they usually mean one of three different deadlines: the March lottery registration window, the Department of Labor certification step, or the Form I-129 petition filing window with USCIS.

Missing any one of these cutoffs stops the petition for that fiscal year. You cannot file a cap-subject Form I-129 unless USCIS first selects the beneficiary's electronic registration, and you cannot submit that Form I-129 without a certified Labor Condition Application (LCA) already in hand.

This table shows how the three stages fit together for the FY 2027 cap cycle, along with the six-month advance filing limits set by USCIS and the Department of Labor.

H-1B cap submission timeline and statutory rules (uscis.gov and dol.gov)

Stage 1: H-1B electronic registration dates and wage-weighted rules

Prospective petitioners seeking to file an H-1B cap-subject petition, including under the 20,000 U.S. advanced degree exemption, must first register each beneficiary electronically through a USCIS organizational account. Congress sets the annual regular cap at 65,000 visas (with up to 6,800 set aside for the H-1B1 program for Chile and Singapore) plus 20,000 for beneficiaries with a U.S. master's or higher degree.

The initial registration period runs for at least 14 calendar days every fiscal year. For the FY 2027 cap, registration opened at noon Eastern on March 4 and closed at 5:00 p.m. Eastern on March 19, 2026. Selections take place after the initial registration period closes, so you do not need to register on the day the initial registration period opens.

Starting in FY 2027, USCIS uses a weighted selection process for unique beneficiaries. Selection is based on the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) wage level that the proffered salary equals or exceeds for the position. This is determined by the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code and area of intended employment.

If a beneficiary will work in multiple locations, or if the salary is stated as a range, the registrant must select the lowest corresponding OEWS wage level. By our calculation from USCIS historical registration data, the share of eligible registrations filed for beneficiaries with multiple registrations dropped from 53.9 percent in FY 2024 (408,891 of 758,994) to 2.3 percent in FY 2026 (7,828 of 343,981) after USCIS introduced beneficiary-centric selection, and total eligible registrations fell 26.9 percent between FY 2025 (470,342) and FY 2026 (343,981).

Each unique beneficiary is counted only once toward the numerical cap, no matter how many employers register them, and is entered into the selection pool by wage level:

• OEWS Wage Level IV: entered into the selection pool 4 times
• OEWS Wage Level III: entered into the selection pool 3 times
• OEWS Wage Level II: entered into the selection pool 2 times
• OEWS Wage Level I (or below Level I using another legitimate source): entered into the selection pool 1 time

Stage 2: Department of Labor LCA submission window and the 7-day rule

Before an employer can submit Form I-129 to USCIS, it must submit a Labor Condition Application (Form ETA-9035E) electronically to the Department of Labor through the Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) system and receive certification. Only employers with physical disabilities or no internet access may apply for special permission from the Administrator of the Office of Foreign Labor Certification to file Form ETA-9035 by mail.

Two timing rules govern your LCA submission date:

First, an LCA must not be submitted more than 6 months before the beginning date of the period of employment. For an October 1 cap start date, April 1 is exactly six months out, though employers requesting a slightly later start date can adjust accordingly.

Second, the Department of Labor reviews LCAs within 7 working days for completeness and obvious errors or inaccuracies. Because USCIS requires a copy of the signed, certified LCA inside the Form I-129 package at the time of filing, an employer that waits until the last week of its 90-day USCIS filing window to submit the LCA risks missing the Form I-129 deadline completely.

• Check the SOC code: You may enter a 6-digit SOC code on Form I-129 to match the electronic registration even if the certified LCA uses an 8-digit detailed O*NET-SOC code (such as 17-2051 on the I-129 and 17-2051.01 on the LCA).
• Check the worker count: You cannot use a single LCA for more workers than specified in Part B, Question 7 of the LCA.
• Include prior user details: If the LCA was previously submitted in an approved petition, you must attach a list with the name and USCIS receipt number of every foreign worker who has already used that LCA.

Stage 3: Form I-129 submission window, UTC timestamps and start dates

On April 1, USCIS begins accepting cap-subject Form I-129 petitions and associated Forms I-907 (Request for Premium Processing Service) for beneficiaries with a selected registration. Each Registration Selection Notice states a designated 90-day filing window.

Every cap-subject petition must follow strict date and matching rules at submission:

Pay close attention to the clock if your employer or attorney submits Form I-129 online on the final day of the 90-day window. For Form I-129 petitions and H-1B registrations submitted online through a USCIS account, the receipt date is recorded in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), not the local time of the submitter or the location of the officer that will ultimately work the petition. Filing late in the day can result in a later receipt date than anticipated.

• Six-month advance limit: You may file an H-1B petition no more than 6 months before the requested employment start date.
• October 1 start date rule: You must indicate a start date of October 1 or later of the applicable fiscal year (and 6 months or less from the receipt date of the petition). USCIS rejects or denies petitions that break this rule, and rejects any petition that writes 'As Soon As Possible' or 'ASAP' as the start date.
• Form I-129 edition date: Make sure every page comes from the current Form I-129 edition (09/09/26 edition listed on uscis.gov), with the edition date and page numbers visible at the bottom of every page.
• Matching registration data: The petitioner name, beneficiary passport or travel document, SOC code, area of intended employment, and proffered wage must match the selected registration, and you must include evidence of the basis of the wage level selected as of the registration submission date.
• Expired passport rule: If the beneficiary's passport expires between registration and Form I-129 filing, enter the new valid passport on Page 3, Part 3 of Form I-129 and include copies of both passports with an explanation.
• Master's cap degree timing: If selected under the U.S. advanced degree exemption, the beneficiary must have earned the qualifying degree (or met all degree requirements, proved by a final transcript or registrar letter) by the day Form I-129 is filed.

Backward-planning checklist: hitting the 90-day submission window

Our team built this six-step countdown checklist so HR teams, attorneys and beneficiaries can work backward from the Form I-129 submission date without getting caught by the 7-working-day Department of Labor review or the UTC clock.

• Before March 4: Create or verify the company's USCIS organizational account, confirm the beneficiary's valid passport expiration date, and determine the SOC code, worksite county, and OEWS wage level.
• March 4 to March 19 (before 5:00 p.m. Eastern): Submit the electronic registration, run the USCIS duplicate checker and CSV check to ensure the company only entered the beneficiary once, and confirm the payment cleared on Pay.gov.
• April 1 to mid-April: Download the Registration Selection Notice from the organizational account and submit Form ETA-9035E in the DOL FLAG system (no more than 6 months before the requested start date).
• 7 working days after LCA submission: Download and sign the certified LCA from FLAG, and gather the beneficiary's educational credentials, final transcript or registrar letter, Form I-94, and prior Forms I-20 or DS-2019.
• Well before the 90-day window closes (or before OPT expires for F-1 cap-gap students): File Form I-129 online or by mail at the address on the selection notice, putting a brightly colored coversheet on top if any detail changed since registration.
• Final days of the 90-day window (if refiling or filing late): If filing online, submit early in the day so the UTC timestamp does not roll into the next calendar day.

H-1B registration fees, payment limits and the proclamation payment court order

USCIS rejects any H-1B petition submitted with an incorrect filing fee. Along with the base Form I-129 fees on Form G-1055, three specific payment rules and updates apply to the FY 2027 cap season:

First, the Presidential Proclamation titled Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers required certain H-1B petitions filed at or after 12:01 a.m. Eastern on September 21, 2025, to include the additional proclamation payment shown in the table below. On June 8, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated agency guidance implementing that payment in State of California v. Mullin, and on July 24, 2026, the First Circuit denied the government's motion to stay pending appeal. USCIS states that DHS will comply with the court's order while considering next steps, though it plans to collect the payment if the order is later lifted.

Second, on August 10, 2026, DHS issued a final rule effective September 9, 2026. Covered employers must now submit the statutory 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee for all H-1B and L-1 petitions. A covered employer has 50 or more employees in the US, with more than 50 percent in H-1B, L-1A or L-1B status. This applies to petitions postmarked or filed online on or after September 9, 2026, unless filing an amended petition that does not request an extension of stay.

Third, on January 9, 2026, DHS announced an inflation adjustment to premium processing fees on Form I-907 effective March 1, 2026. Any Form I-907 postmarked on or after March 1, 2026, with the old fee is rejected and returned.

Fees and transaction limits from uscis.gov, as of November 2026

F-1 OPT cap-gap submission dates: filing before OPT expires vs. the 60-day grace period

For F-1 students on post-completion Optional Practical Training (OPT), the exact day the employer submits Form I-129 decides whether the student can keep working through the summer or must stop working on their OPT end date.

Cap-gap occurs because USCIS cannot accept a cap-subject H-1B petition more than 6 months before the need for services, making April 1 the earliest filing date for an October 1 start. Under the H-1B cap-gap regulations, a student qualifies for an automatic extension of F-1 status (and, if eligible, OPT work authorization) once the employer timely files a cap-subject H-1B petition based on a valid selected registration that requests a change of status rather than consular processing.

The difference between filing during active OPT and filing during the 60-day grace period is critical:

How your Form I-129 submission date affects F-1 cap-gap work authorization (uscis.gov)

What happens if your submission is rejected, delayed by a courier, or duplicated?

Mistakes during the 90-day filing window are fixable only if you act before the window on your Registration Selection Notice closes, and only if you avoid triggering USCIS's strict ban on duplicate filings.

Here is how USCIS handles the four most common submission problems:

• Duplicate electronic registrations: A prospective petitioner may submit only one registration per beneficiary per fiscal year. If you find a duplicate before 5:00 p.m. Eastern on March 19, 2026, you can log in and delete the extra entry (without a fee refund). After the registration period closes, USCIS invalidates all registrations submitted by that petitioner for that beneficiary, with no appeal.
• Rejected Form I-129 petitions: Rejected petitions do not retain a filing date. If USCIS rejects your Form I-129 (for example, because it was mailed to the wrong location), you may refile it at the correct location or online as long as you properly refile inside the designated 90-day window on your selection notice.
• Delivery service delay, damage or misrouting: If you filed on time and the courier notifies you that the package may be delayed, damaged or misrouted, you may submit a second H-1B petition with a new fee payment inside the 90-day window. You must attach a written explanation with the courier's notice and a formal request to withdraw the first petition. Without both items, USCIS treats the filing as a prohibited duplicate and denies or revokes both petitions without refunding fees.
• Delivered package with a delayed Form I-797 receipt: If courier tracking confirms your package was delivered to USCIS, do not file a second petition just because your Form I-797 receipt notice is taking a long time. Filing a second petition after confirmed delivery is treated as a duplicate filing and results in the denial or revocation of both petitions.

Cap-exempt H-1B submission dates (universities, Guam and CNMI)

Not every H-1B petition is bound by the March registration window or the April 1 filing start date. Petitions filed by U.S. institutions of higher education and other cap-exempt employers are exempt from the annual numerical cap and do not go through the electronic registration lottery.

In addition, under the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008, H-1B workers performing labor or services in Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) are exempt from the H-1B cap if their employers file the petition before December 31, 2029. Petitions for employment or services in the CNMI must be mailed to the USCIS Texas Service Center in Irving, Texas.

While cap-exempt employers can submit petitions outside the March and April cap calendar, they must still follow the six-month advance limit: neither the Department of Labor LCA nor the USCIS Form I-129 petition may be submitted more than 6 months before the requested employment start date. Also remember that the F-1 cap-gap extension applies only to cap-subject H-1B petitions, not to cap-exempt filings.

Practice example

When does your H-1B petition allow you to start working, and how have you maintained your status while waiting for your start date?

A strong, honest answer states the exact validity start date printed on your Form I-797 approval notice (such as October 1 of the fiscal year) and explains your lawful status or location up to that date in one or two clear sentences. If you were in the United States on F-1 Optional Practical Training and used a cap-gap extension, be ready to tell the officer the date your OPT expired, the receipt date on your employer's Form I-797 showing the petition was timely filed on or after April 1, and when you departed the United States for visa stamping. Have your Form I-797 approval notice, your certified Labor Condition Application (Form ETA-9035), your updated cap-gap Form I-20 from your DSO, and your unexpired passport organized so you can hand any of them over immediately if asked.

The consular officer is checking that your planned work dates match your approved Form I-129 petition and that you never worked without authorization before your October 1 H-1B start date.

This is interview practice, not legal advice. For questions about your own case, talk to an immigration attorney. Visaful is not affiliated with the U.S. government or the Department of State.