US hits H-1B visa cap for FY2027: What every Indian applicant should know
3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jul 23, 2026 01:28 PM IST
The United States has hit its annual H-1B visa cap for Fiscal Year (FY) 2027, and the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated 85,000 slots.
This is the first selection cycle for the H-1B visa program wherein the changes made by the US President Donald Trump’s administration are poised to be implemented, including the measure to overhaul the lottery process and give priority to those who are most highly paid and senior-level workers.
What is the H-1B visa cap?
Due to a statutory cap, the USCIS limits the H-1B visa program to 85,000 new visa slots each year, which includes 65,000 visas for the regular cap and 20,000 for the US advanced degree exemption, known as the master’s cap.
However, USCIS had clarified that not all H-1B nonimmigrant visas are subject to this annual cap; those people working in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam may be exempt.
“US Citizenship and Immigration Services has received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa US advanced degree exemption, known as the master’s cap, for fiscal year 2027,” USCIS said in a statement.
Trump-era changes to shape future selections
In September last year, the Trump administration had made the H-1B visa process and its allotment tougher than previous years, stating that those with occupations requiring “a body of highly specialised knowledge” would be favoured more.
Nearly 2 in every 3 H-1B workers are employed in computer-related occupations. (AI-generated image)
The slew of changes accompanied President Trump’s announcement of a $100,000 fee attached to H-1B visa petitions, a decision which drew legal cases from the business community. However, the $100,000 fee linked to H-1B visas was struck down last month after a federal judge found that the US President “lacked the authority” to impose a tax on the program.
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Tech giants dominate H-1B approvals
The H-1B visa program remains heavily used and in demand among large employers, with Amazon being the top approved petitioner with over 9,000 beneficiaries, the USCIS data shows.
In terms of approved petitions, TCS, Infosys, Apple, Microsoft, Cognizant, Google, Meta, JPMorgan, and Oracle are among the top 10 companies.
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