The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has started notifying applicants of their selection status in the H-1B visa lottery for fiscal year 2026. Registrants can check their results through employers, legal representatives, or the USCIS online portal. Selected applicants must now prepare their petitions, while those marked “Submitted” remain in the lottery pool. Unsuccessful candidates may explore alternatives like the O-1 or L-1 visas.
The H-1B registration period for FY 2026 ran from March 7 to March 24, 2025, with U.S. employers submitting applications for specialized roles in tech, healthcare, and engineering. This year saw a steep fee hike—from $10 𝑡𝑜 $215 per registration—to deter frivolous filings. USCIS also implemented procedural reforms to ensure a fairer selection process amid rising competition.
Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department reported a sharp increase in student visa denials, with 41% of applications rejected in FY 2024—a near-doubling from 2014 rates.
The United States saw student visa denials reach a decade-high in the last fiscal year (October 2023 to September 2024), with 41% of F-1 visa applications from all countries rejected, nearly doubling the rejection rate from the 2014 fiscal year, according to an analysis by The Indian Express of U.S. State Department data.
During the 2023-24 fiscal year, the U.S. received approximately 679,000 applications for F-1 visas, of which 279,000 (41%) were denied. This marked an increase from the 2022-23 fiscal year, when 253,000 applications (36%) out of 699,000 were turned down.