H-1B visa status

How to check your H-1B status

An H-1B case has two possible stages, and each one has its own place to check.

1. The lottery (cap registration). The employer, or its attorney, submits an electronic registration in a USCIS online account. The result shows there, not in the case status tool.
2. The petition (Form I-129). Once filed, USCIS sends an I-797 receipt notice with a receipt number. That number works in the USCIS case status tool.

The receipt number has 13 characters: three letters and ten numbers. Enter it without dashes, but keep any asterisks. The tool shows only the last action on the case; a USCIS online account shows up to the last five (Checking Your Case Status Online). What each message means, from “Case Was Received” to “Case Was Approved”, is in our status index.

As the worker, you may not have the receipt: USCIS asks petitioners to put their own address on the I-129, so the notices go to them (cap season page). Ask your employer or its attorney for the number.

Registration statuses, as USCIS defines them (H-1B Electronic Registration):

How long the I-129 takes, and premium processing

USCIS reports one row for all I-129 petitions. It covers every worker classification filed on that form, so read it as the closest public figure, not as an H-1B time.

Source: USCIS, All Forms by Quarter, FY2026 Q3. By our calculation, 78.4% of the 183,308 decisions in the quarter were approvals. The median covers only cases finished in April to June, and the monthly report to Congress does not include the I-129. For more, see I-129 processing time and the USCIS processing times page.

Premium processing: the 15-day clock. H-1B is on USCIS’s list of classifications eligible for premium processing. The rules, from How Do I Request Premium Processing?:

• The promise. USCIS takes adjudicative action within 15 business days, or it refunds the premium fee.
• Action is not always approval. It can also be a denial, a request for evidence (RFE), a notice of intent to deny or a fraud investigation.
• The clock starts when USCIS receives a properly completed Form I-907 at the correct filing location.
• An RFE stops and resets it. A new 15-day period starts when USCIS receives the response. See the evidence stage in our status index.
• Who files it. The petitioner or its representative files the I-907.

The fee is $2,965 for an I-907 filed with an H-1B I-129, paper or online (G-1055). USCIS changed the I-907 filing location on Oct. 7, 2026 and accepts forms sent to the prior location if postmarked by Nov. 9, 2026 (Form I-907).

The cap lottery: FY2027 dates and numbers

The H-1B cap is 65,000 new visas or statuses a year, plus 20,000 for people with a U.S. master’s degree or higher. Workers at universities, their affiliated nonprofits and nonprofit or government research organizations are not subject to the cap (H-1B Specialty Occupations).

The FY2027 season, as USCIS posted it:

• Registration: noon Eastern on March 4 to 5 p.m. Eastern on March 19, 2026, at $215 per beneficiary.
• Selection: weighted by wage level, based generally on the highest OEWS wage level that the offered wage equals or exceeds.
• Filing: from April 1, 2026. The start date must be Oct. 1, 2026 or later, and no more than 6 months after USCIS receives the petition.
• Result: USCIS says it received enough petitions to reach both caps for FY2027 (H-1B Electronic Registration).

Source: USCIS, H-1B Electronic Registration Process. USCIS had not posted FY2027 counts or FY2028 dates on that page as of Nov. 4, 2026.

H-1B fees in 2026

From the G-1055 fee schedule (checked Nov. 4, 2026).

USCIS’s H-1B page adds two alerts. Since Sept. 9, 2026, covered employers pay the 9-11 Biometric Fee on H-1B and L-1 petitions, except amended petitions that do not extend status. On the $100,000 payment from the Sept. 19, 2025 Proclamation, a court vacated the guidance on June 8, 2026, and DHS says it is complying while it considers next steps. Read the current H-1B page before any filing.

If your H-1B case is taking long

Because the petition is the employer’s, inquiries usually come from the employer or its attorney. Past the time on the processing times page, it can use e-Request or ask for an expedite, which USCIS grants at its discretion. In cap season, USCIS warns that I-797 receipts can arrive late and asks employers not to file a second petition if delivery was confirmed.

After approval, a worker outside the U.S. applies for the H-1B visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate, then for admission with CBP. A spouse in H-4 status may qualify for a work permit: see H-4 EAD processing time. If your employer starts a green card, the next steps are PERM and the I-140. The YourCaseStatus app (coming soon) will alert you when your status changes. For every form, see the processing times hub.

Official links

• Check your case status
• H-1B Specialty Occupations
• H-1B Cap Season
• Premium processing
• Form I-129
• USCIS processing times
• Case inquiry (e-Request)