The H-1B visa program has hit its cap for the 2027 fiscal year, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Friday.
The agency accepts 65,000 petitions for the program through its regular cap and an additional 20,000 petitions through its U.S. advanced degree exemption, known as the master’s cap.
The Trump administration has added a handful of hurdles to the H-1B visa program, which caters to occupations requiring “a body of highly specialized knowledge.”
Last September, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security proposed to update its visa petition selection process by giving higher-paid offers more entries into a lottery. This would incentivize employers to offer higher wages and pursue workers with higher skill levels, DHS said. The proposal accompanied President Donald Trump’s announcement of a $100,000 fee attached to H-1B visa petitions, a move that drew litigation from the business community.
When the fee was announced last fall, leaders of school districts that rely on H-1B visa programs to fill acute instructional shortages with international teachers said the new fee would hinder their ability to continue this critical hiring strategy.
During fiscal year 2025, a National Education Association analysis found that over 500 K-12 public school districts employed more than 2,300 H-1B visa holders. NEA added that the majority of H-1B visa hires in education occur through universities and colleges.
The $100,000 fee was struck down last month after a judge ruled Trump lacked the authority to impose a tax on the program.
The U.S. Department of Labor announced the enforcement initiative Project Firewall at the same time as the fee last September, focused on protecting the rights and wages of U.S. workers and “maximizing compliance with the H-1B visa program.” The initiative includes prioritization of investigations involving situations where American workers may be displaced or not considered in favor of H-1B workers.
