FY2026 through June, matched year-over-year comparisons, new-employment positions, and evidence on Google, Meta, and remaining OPT requirements.
Explore the latest analytics →FY2026 eligible registrations, with 120,141 selected registrations. The official USCIS numeric table still ends at FY2026 as of October 10, 2026. It does not publish FY2027 registration totals or selection demographics.
Registrations, selected registrations, unique beneficiaries and cap places are different measures. A registration selection does not establish petition approval.
USCIS registration statisticsThe Immigration Act of 1990 · Signed by President George H.W. Bush
President George H.W. Bushsigned the Immigration Act of 1990 — the most sweeping overhaul of legal immigration in 25 years. It split the old “H-1” category into H-1A (nurses) and H-1B (specialty occupations), and set the first hard annual cap of 65,000.
The core argument was a looming shortfall of engineers, mathematicians, computer scientists, and physical scientists. A 1989 NSF report warned of a 675,000-person shortage of scientists and engineers by 2010, and industry testified U.S. universities weren't producing enough STEM graduates to keep up with Japan and Western Europe. Congress responded by tripling employment green cards to 140,000 and inventing H-1B as the pipeline for specialty workers.
Lead sponsors were Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) in the Senate and Rep. Bruce Morrison (D-CT)in the House. It passed 89–8 in the Senate and 264–118 in the House. The same law also created the diversity visa lottery and Temporary Protected Status.
Source: Immigration History Project — immigrationhistory.org/item/immigration-act-of-1990
Pre-2001 USCIS reports are scarce — the INS didn't publish a formal H-1B report to Congress until FY1999. What we have is the cap history, legislation, and the dates the cap was reached.
First fiscal year under the new Immigration Act of 1990. H-1B splits off from the old H-1 category (which lumped nurses, specialty workers, and “distinguished merit” together). Cap is not reached.
Low utilization years. Early-90s recession + limited employer awareness mean approvals run well below the 65k ceiling. USCIS predecessor INS published no standardized H-1B statistics in this window.
INS hit the 65,000 cap in August 1997 — the first time ever. The dot-com boom was accelerating and demand exploded almost overnight.
Cap hit four months earlier than the prior year. Congressional hearings through 1998 feature tech-industry testimony arguing 65k is no longer enough.
The American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act raises the cap to 115,000 for FY1999–FY2000 and 107,500 for FY2001. Adds the $500 training/anti-fraud fee and creates the H-1B-dependent employer rules.
~302,000 petitions approved (initial + continuing), per the first-ever INS “Report on H-1B Petitions” to Congress. India already the top source country at ~48% of approvals.
Registration filled almost instantly. Congress responds by drafting AC21. Chart data from FY2000 onward (below) comes from USCIS Characteristics Reports.
The American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act raises the cap to 195,000 for FY2001–FY2003, exempts universities and nonprofit research orgs from the cap entirely, and creates H-1B portability (change employers without losing status). These provisions still shape H-1B today.
Sources: ACWIA (P.L. 105-277), AC21 (P.L. 106-313), USCIS “Characteristics of Specialty Occupation Workers” FY2003 (first published), INS Report on H-1B Petitions FY1999, and USCIS press releases on cap-reach dates (all linked below).
Buried in 25 years of official USCIS reports
114,806 initial and 291,542 continuing approvals in the FY2025 characteristics report. Initial employment includes cap-exempt cases; it is not the number of new lottery hires.
USCIS FY2025 characteristics, Table 3
FY2025 characteristics report. Initial employment median is $103,000; continuing employment median is $141,000.
USCIS FY2025 characteristics, Figure 4
The petitions report has 328,185 first-decision approvals; the characteristics report has 406,348 approvals. Annual receipts and approvals are not a matched cohort, so dividing them does not give an approval rate.
USCIS FY2025 petitions and characteristics reports
252,088 of the 406,348 approvals in the FY2025 characteristics report. Broad occupation groups differ from DOL's individual SOC job titles.
USCIS FY2025 characteristics, Table 3
From DOL Labor Condition Applications FY2022–FY2026 H1
FY2026 through Q3. Compare with 437,190 in the same prior-year window.
DOL, deduplicated certified H-1B cases
Lower-bound offered wage, using the same calculation across the LCA explorer and employer trends.
FY2026 through Q3
An LCA can request multiple positions. These are not unique people, completed hires, or visas granted.
FY2026 through Q3
Recent LCAs cannot establish an employer's policy for a specific new graduate or OPT candidate. Company-wide restrictions remain unverified.
See employer trends and dated policy evidence
FY1992-FY2027 | Sources: Immigration Act of 1990, ACWIA 1998, AC21 2000, Reform Act 2004
The cap wasn't always 85k. It spent three years at 195,000 under AC21 (FY2001-FY2003) before reverting in FY2005.
FY2000-FY2025 | FY2025 approvals use the petitions report first-decision basis; splits unavailable on that basis
Most approved petitions from FY16 onward are extensions or transfers, not new H-1Bs. Earlier-year breakdowns aren't published.
FY2003-FY2025 | Source: USCIS Characteristics Reports & Trend Tables
FY2021-FY2026 | Source: USCIS electronic registration table
FY1999-FY2025 snapshots | Sources: INS FY1999 Report, USCIS Characteristics Reports
FY1999-FY2025 | Sources: INS Report on H-1B Petitions FY1999, USCIS Characteristics Reports
October 2026 DOS Visa Bulletin | Historical cutoff lag on October 10, 2026
The chart measures elapsed time from the final-action priority-date cutoffs to October 10, 2026. It does not estimate an applicant's future wait. Current categories have zero cutoff lag.
Historical cutoff lag is not a predicted applicant wait. EB-2 India final-action cutoff is November 1, 2013; other chargeability areas January 1, 2025. These dates can advance or retrogress.
October 2026 DOS Visa BulletinFY1999-FY2025 snapshots | Sources: INS FY1999 Report, USCIS Characteristics Reports
FY1999-FY2025 | Sources: INS FY1999 Report, USCIS Characteristics Reports
Side-by-side comparison of any two years
All PDFs saved locally in data/official_sources/ for verification. Not legal advice.