USCIS began uploading FY2027 H1B lottery selection notices on March 27, 2026. The rollout continues through March 31. If you registered for FY2027, your employer or attorney can now check your status in their USCIS online account.
The headline finding: Level 1 and Level 2 wage workers received selection notices. Many in the H1B community expected the wage-weighted lottery to effectively shut out lower-wage registrants. The early data suggests that did not happen, at least not entirely.
This Is the First Wage-Weighted Lottery in H1B History
FY2027 is not a normal lottery. It is the first cycle where wage level directly determines how many lottery entries a registrant receives. Under the new system:
- Level I (entry-level) registrants get 1 entry
- Level II registrants get 2 entries
- Level III registrants get 3 entries
- Level IV (experienced/senior) registrants get 4 entries
The intent was to prioritize higher-wage workers and reduce lottery gaming by staffing firms filing at artificially low wage levels. What the results show is that the system did weight toward higher wages, but lower-wage workers were not eliminated from the pool.
Estimated Selection Odds by Wage Level
Based on early selection notice patterns and the registration pool size, the estimated selection odds for FY2027 are:
- Level I: approximately 15%
- Level II: approximately 29%
- Level III: approximately 44%
- Level IV: approximately 61%
These are estimates. USCIS has not published final selection counts by wage level. The figures above are derived from attorney reports, community tracking on forums like redbus2us, and the known cap (85,000 slots) applied to the estimated registration pool.
For comparison, the overall lottery odds in prior years were roughly 25-30% before wage weighting was introduced. The new system has meaningfully differentiated outcomes by wage level. Use H1BSignal's lottery calculator to model your specific situation.
Why the Pool Is Smaller Than Prior Years
The FY2027 registration pool is considerably smaller than recent cycles. FY2026 had approximately 339,000 unique beneficiaries, itself down from roughly 442,000 in FY2025, a decline of 26.9%. FY2027 is expected to be smaller still, for two reasons:
- The $100,000 H1B fee: The asylum program fee that took effect in September 2025 caused large employers to significantly reduce cap-exempt filings. For cap-subject filings, the fee deterred some smaller employers and staffing firms from registering candidates they might have included in prior years.
- Fraud crackdown: USCIS tightened the registration process after prior years saw lottery manipulation through duplicate registrations. The cleanup removed a meaningful number of invalid entries from the pool.
A smaller pool with the same 85,000 cap mathematically improves selection odds for everyone, including Level I registrants. This is likely part of why Level I selections occurred at all.
Check your employer before you file
If you were selected, the next step is filing the petition by June 30. Approval rates vary significantly by employer. Search your company on H1BSignal to see their approval rate, RFE history, and filing volume before you proceed.
How to Check if You Were Selected
Individual beneficiaries do not receive direct notification from USCIS. Selection notices are uploaded to the USCIS online accounts of petitioning employers and their attorneys. If you registered for FY2027, the process is:
- Contact your employer's HR team or immigration point of contact
- Ask them to check their USCIS online account for your registration
- Your attorney, if you have one, will likely reach out proactively if you were selected
The rollout is staggered. USCIS began uploading notices on March 27 and the process continues through March 31. Not seeing a result yet does not mean you were not selected. According to CI Law Group, notices are being uploaded in batches and the full upload should be complete by end of March.
Filing Window: April 1 to June 30, 2026
If selected, the petition must be filed between April 1 and June 30, 2026. There is no extension to this window. Missing the deadline means the selection is forfeited and the beneficiary would need to wait for the next lottery cycle.
Key things to have ready before filing:
- Labor Condition Application (LCA) certified by the Department of Labor
- Form I-129 with H-1B supplement, completed by your employer or attorney
- Supporting documentation: degree credentials, employer support letter, job description
- Filing fees: base fee plus applicable surcharges depending on employer size and H-1B history
Premium processing is available for FY2027 petitions and guarantees a response within 15 business days. It does not affect your approval odds, but it does compress the timeline and can be useful if your start date is time-sensitive. See our guide on whether premium processing is worth it.
If You Were Not Selected
USCIS has not announced a second lottery or supplemental selection for FY2027. Based on prior years, a second round would only occur if an insufficient number of selected registrations convert to filed petitions by June 30. That scenario is possible but not guaranteed.
If you were not selected this cycle, the practical options are:
- Cap-exempt employers: Universities, nonprofit research organizations, and certain government research entities are cap-exempt. H1B petitions at these employers can be filed at any time without lottery selection. If this pathway is viable for your career, it is worth exploring now.
- Alternative visa categories: O-1A (extraordinary ability), TN (Canada/Mexico nationals), and E-3 (Australian nationals) are the most common alternatives for workers who do not clear the H1B lottery.
- FY2028 registration: Opens in approximately March 2027. The wage-weighted system will apply again. If your wage level is the constraining factor, negotiating a higher offer before the next cycle materially improves your odds.
What This Lottery Tells Us About FY2028
The FY2027 results establish the first real baseline for the wage-weighted era. Level I workers were not shut out, but their odds are roughly one-fourth those of Level IV workers. That is a structural signal for employers and workers alike.
Employers who consistently file at Level I wages face a much harder path to getting candidates through the lottery. Workers offered entry-level wages have significantly worse lottery odds, even with a smaller pool. The economic incentive to negotiate higher wages before lottery registration is now quantifiable and substantial.
For a deeper look at how wage levels affect lottery outcomes, see the wage-weighted lottery analysis and the registration data breakdown. More H1B research is available at H1BSignal Research.
Sources
- CI Law Group — H-1B cap lottery selection underway, petitions must be filed by June 30
- Redbus2us — H1B 2027 lottery results out, sample selection notice
- Goe Lite — FY2027 H1B lottery results coverage
- Manifest Law — H1B lottery key dates FY2027
- USCIS — H-1B electronic registration process