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The The H-1B visa program has reached its limit for fiscal year 2027, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Friday.
The agency accepts 65,000 requests for the program through its regular cap and an additional 20,000 through its US advanced degree waiver, known as the master’s cap.
Not all H-1B nonimmigrant visas are subject to this annual limit, USCIS has cleared it up; those working in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam may be exempt, for example.
The Trump administration has added a handful of hurdles to the H-1B visa program, which caters to occupations that require “a body of highly specialized knowledge.”
Last September, the US Department of Homeland Security proposed updating its visa application screening process by offering higher-paying offers plus lottery tickets. That would be encourage employers to offer higher wages and pursue workers with higher skill levels, DHS said. The proposal accompanied the announcement by President Donald Trump of a $100,000 fee attached to H-1B visa petitions, a move that took out litigation of the business community.
The The $100,000 fee has been waived last month after a judge ruled that Trump lacked the authority to impose a tax on the program.
The US Department of Labor announced the enforcement initiative Project Firewall at the same time as last September’s rate, it focused on protecting the rights and wages of American workers and “maximizing compliance with the H-1B visa program.” The initiative includes prioritizing investigations involving situations where US workers may be displaced or not considered in favor of H-1B workers.
Despite these efforts, the visa program remains widely used by many large employers. Amazon is the most approved petitionerUSCIS data show, with nearly 5,000 beneficiaries. Apple, Google, Meta and JPMorgan Chase are also among the top 10 companies in terms of approved requests.
