The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reported a decrease in registrations for the fiscal year 2026 H-1B lottery compared with last year, continuing a trend observed in the FY 2025 lottery. Eligible registrations dropped significantly from 758,994 in FY 2024 to 470,342 in FY 2025 to 343,981 in FY 2026. This year marks the lowest number of registrations since the first Trump Administration — in FY 2021 there were only 269,424 eligible lottery registrations.
USCIS attributes the decline to changes in the H-1B lottery intended to increase fairness and prevent fraud. A new beneficiary-centric lottery system implemented for the FY 2025 lottery gave each H-1B beneficiary one opportunity to be chosen in the lottery, regardless of how many employers filed lottery registrations on the beneficiary’s behalf. In addition, the increased scrutiny that H-1B petitions are expected to receive under the Trump Administration likely deterred some individuals from seeking a visa.
Employers who were selected in the lottery must submit the full H-1B petition for the beneficiary named in the selected registration by the end of June 2025.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, can read more here.