US Announces Revised H-1B Visa Program with Prioritized Selection and Potential Fee

The United States will open the registration window for the FY 2027 H-1B visa programme on March 4, introducing a revised selection system and flagging a possible $100,000 additional fee for certain employers. The changes could make the upcoming season more challenging for both companies and foreign professionals. According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the online registration period will run from March 4 to March 19, closing at noon Eastern Time. During this period, US employers seeking to hire foreign workers under the H-1B programme must submit electronic registrations and pay a $215 fee per beneficiary. USCIS said employers will be notified of selection results by March 31 through their online accounts. As in previous years, only selected registrations will be eligible to move forward to the full H-1B petition filing stage. However, the FY 2027 process comes with a major policy shift. If the number of registrations exceeds the annual visa cap, a scenario that has become routine in recent years, USCIS will no longer rely on a purely random lottery. Instead, preference will be given to higher-paid and higher-skilled applicants, a move the US government says is aimed at protecting domestic wages and job opportunities. Another development that has drawn attention is a potential $100,000 fee for certain employers. USCIS clarified that this amount is linked to an executive order issued in September 2025 and would apply only to specific employers at a later stage of the process, not during initial registration. Further guidance on eligibility and implementation is expected. The H-1B visa allows US companies to hire foreign professionals in specialised fields such as technology, engineering, healthcare, finance and research. With demand consistently far exceeding supply, the programme has long been one of the most competitive US work visa routes.