US H-1B visa lottery 2026 results begin rolling out; 65,000 cap set

This year's H-1B visa registration window opened on March 7, 2025 and closed on March 24, 2025

The United States has started announcing results for the H-1B visa lottery for the 2026 financial year, according to immigration law firm Richards and Jurusik.

 

Applicants can check their status online via the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) portal, or through their employer or legal representative. Notifications are being released in phases, so some may need to wait a bit longer for confirmation.

 

New fees and rules in place this year

 

This year’s registration window opened on March 7, 2025 and closed on March 24, 2025. The H-1B programme allows US companies to sponsor foreign professionals in sectors like technology, engineering and healthcare.

 

USCIS introduced several changes this year. The most noticeable was the jump in the registration fee—from $10 to $215 per beneficiary. The new amount, which is non-refundable and must be paid at the time of registration, represents a 2050% increase.

 

USCIS said the higher fee is meant to “cover administrative costs and reduce non-serious applications”.

 

Another update came on March 20, 2025, when the agency adopted a new beneficiary-centric model. Under this system, each individual can only be entered into the lottery once, no matter how many employers want to sponsor them. This rule is intended to prevent duplicate entries and create a more balanced selection process.

 

Tech firms remain the biggest users

 

Amazon led the pack with the highest number of H-1B approvals in 2025, at 9,265. Cognizant Technology Solutions followed with 6,321, and Google came in third with 5,364 approvals.

 

Other companies with large numbers of approved applications included:

Meta: 4,844  

Microsoft: 4,725  

Apple: 3,873  

HCL America Inc: 2,953  

IBM Corporation: 2,906  

Walmart Associates: 2,904  

Capgemini America: 2,795  

Intel Corporation: 2,520  

Deloitte: 2,494  

Amazon Web Services: 2,216  

Accenture: 2,157  

Ernst and Young US: 2,335  

Oracle: 2,070  

JP Morgan Chase: 1,719  

Tesla: 1,767  

Salesforce: 1,525  

Cisco: 1,330  

 

These firms use the H-1B route to hire skilled workers in roles like software engineering, research and data science.

 

Indian IT firms continue to dominate

 

Indian companies also made a strong showing. Infosys received 8,140 H-1B approvals in 2024, followed by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) with 5,274. HCL America had 2,953, Wipro 1,634 and Tech Mahindra 1,199.

 

While the USCIS has not yet released a country-wise breakdown for 2024, data from the previous financial year suggests that Indian nationals accounted for 78% of all H-1B visas issued. In the year ending September 30, 2023, 265,777 visas were granted, and 72.3% of them went to Indian citizens.

 

Annual caps and eligibility rules

 

The number of H-1B visas issued each year is capped at 65,000, with an additional 20,000 reserved for those who hold advanced degrees from US universities.