How to Create a USCIS Account and Check Your H-1B Lottery Results (2026 Guide)

March 27, 202612 min read

Every spring, hundreds of thousands of H-1B hopefuls wait to find out if they were selected in the USCIS electronic registration lottery. One of the most common questions: how do I check my results? And before that — do I even need a USCIS account, or is that just for attorneys?

The short answer: anyone can create a myUSCIS account — individuals, employers, and attorneys alike. This guide walks you through the process step by step, including major changes for the FY2027 cycle.

What Changed for FY2027? (Major Updates)

Before we get into account setup, here are the critical changes for the FY2027 H-1B cycle that every applicant, employer, and attorney should know:

Wage-weighted selection (NEW) — effective February 27, 2026, USCIS now uses a weighted lottery instead of a pure random lottery. Registrations are entered into the selection pool based on the OEWS wage level of the offered position: Level IV = 4 entries, Level III = 3 entries, Level II = 2 entries, Level I = 1 entry. Higher-paying positions have significantly better odds of selection.
$100,000 proclamation fee (NEW) — a presidential proclamation requires a $100,000 fee for most H-1B petitions. However, FY2027 cap-subject petitions requesting a change of status (COS) are exempt. Extensions, amendments, and transfers for those already in H-1B status inside the U.S. also appear exempt. Petitioners must submit payment via pay.gov before filing and include proof with the I-129 petition.
Updated Form I-129 (edition 02/27/2026) — a new edition of Form I-129 was released on February 27, 2026, with updated fields for the wage-weighted process. USCIS will reject the old edition (01/20/2025) if received on or after April 1, 2026. Always verify you are using the latest edition at uscis.gov/i-129.
Registration fee: $215 per beneficiary — increased from the original $10 fee. This is paid during the electronic registration period, before any selection occurs.

Who Can Create a myUSCIS Account?

USCIS offers online accounts to multiple types of users:

Applicants / Petitioners / Beneficiaries — any individual involved in an immigration case. This includes H-1B beneficiaries (the workers), employers filing petitions, family sponsors, and anyone with a pending or approved case.
Legal Representatives — attorneys and DOJ-accredited representatives who file on behalf of clients. They use a separate account type with additional features for managing multiple cases.
H-1B Registrants — employers or their representatives who submit electronic registrations for the H-1B cap lottery. This requires a USCIS online account with the registrant role.

You do not need an attorney to create an account. If you are the beneficiary of an H-1B petition, you can create your own account and track your case independently.

Step 1: Go to myUSCIS

Visit myaccount.uscis.gov and click "Create Account". You will see options including:

"I am an applicant, petitioner, or requestor" — choose this if you are an individual (H-1B beneficiary, employer, or anyone filing on their own behalf)
"I am a legal representative" — choose this if you are an attorney or accredited representative

Most H-1B workers should select the first option.

Step 2: Set Up Your Login

You will need to create a USCIS online account with the following steps:

Enter your email address and create a password
Set up two-factor verification (MFA) — you can choose to verify by an authentication app, SMS text message, or email. Every time you log in, you must enter a one-time verification code.
Verify your email by clicking the confirmation link
Complete your profile with your name, date of birth, and other basic information

Keep your MFA method accessible — if you lose access to your verification method, account recovery can be slow.

Step 3: Link Your Case (If You Have a Receipt Number)

If your employer or attorney has already filed an H-1B petition and you have a receipt number (starts with EAC, WAC, LIN, SRC, MSC, or IOE), you can link it to your account:

Log in to myUSCIS
Click "Check Case Status" or look for the option to add a case
Enter your receipt number

Once linked, you will see status updates, any Requests for Evidence (RFEs), and approval or denial notices — all in one dashboard. You can also send secure messages to USCIS and download documents like approval notices (I-797).

How to Check H-1B Lottery Selection Status

This is where it gets important to understand who sees what:

If You Are the Beneficiary (the Worker)

The H-1B electronic registration is submitted by the registrant — typically your employer or their immigration attorney. The lottery selection notification goes to the registrant's account, not yours.

This means:

You will not see the lottery result directly in your own myUSCIS account
Your employer or attorney receives an email notification that their account has been updated — the email directs them to log in to see the actual result
Once the petition (Form I-129) is actually filed after selection, you will receive a receipt number — and then you can track the case in your own account

What to do: Ask your employer or attorney to notify you as soon as they receive the selection result. If you are selected, ask for the receipt number once the petition is filed so you can track it yourself.

If You Are the Employer or Attorney (the Registrant)

Log in to your myUSCIS account and navigate to your H-1B registrations. Each registration will show one of these statuses:

"Selected" — the beneficiary was picked in the lottery. You must file the I-129 petition between April 1 and June 30, 2026 (for FY2027).
"Not Selected" — the beneficiary was not picked. No further action is needed unless USCIS conducts additional selection rounds later in the fiscal year.
"Submitted" — still awaiting the lottery. USCIS has not yet run the selection for this registration period.
"Denied" / "Invalidated / Failed Payment" — the registration was rejected (e.g., duplicate filing, payment issue, invalid information).

FY2027 H-1B Key Dates

Event	Date
Registration window opens	March 4, 2026 (12:00 p.m. ET)
Registration window closes	March 19, 2026 (12:00 p.m. ET)
Selection results expected	By March 31, 2026
Petition filing window opens	April 1, 2026
Petition filing deadline (if selected)	June 30, 2026 (90 days)
H-1B employment start date	October 1, 2026

Source: USCIS FY 2027 H-1B Cap Season announcement. Registration fee: $215 per beneficiary.

How the New Wage-Weighted Selection Works

Starting with FY2027, the H-1B lottery is no longer purely random. USCIS assigns each registration a weight based on the OEWS (Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics) wage level that the offered salary meets or exceeds for the relevant SOC code and geographic area:

Wage Level	Entries in Pool	Relative Odds
Level IV (Fully Competent)	4	Highest
Level III (Experienced)	3	High
Level II (Qualified)	2	Moderate
Level I (Entry)	1	Lowest

This means a Level IV position has 4x the chance of being selected compared to a Level I position. The practical impact: higher-paid roles in tech hubs (where wages exceed Level III/IV thresholds) are significantly more likely to be selected than entry-level positions. Use the Salary Explorer to check what wage level your offered salary corresponds to for your occupation and location.

What If You Were Not Selected?

If your registration shows "Not Selected" after the initial lottery, do not lose hope:

Additional selection rounds — USCIS may run second (or third) rounds if not enough petitions are filed from the initial selection. In FY2025, USCIS ran multiple rounds.
Cap-exempt employers — universities, nonprofit research organizations, and government research organizations are exempt from the H-1B cap. If your employer qualifies, you do not need to go through the lottery at all.
Other visa options — depending on your situation, O-1 (extraordinary ability), L-1 (intracompany transfer), or E-2/E-3 visas may be alternatives worth discussing with an immigration attorney.
Try again next year — there is no limit on how many times you can be registered for the H-1B lottery.

What Happens After You Are Selected?

Selection is just the beginning. Here is the typical timeline and what immigration attorneys recommend:

Employer files Form I-129 — your employer (or their attorney) must file the H-1B petition between April 1 and June 30, 2026 (for FY2027), along with supporting documents (offer letter, LCA, degree evaluations, etc.). Critical: The current Form I-129 edition is 02/27/2026. USCIS will reject the old edition (01/20/2025) if received on or after April 1, 2026. Always verify the latest edition at uscis.gov/i-129 before filing.
Filing fees — the total cost to file an H-1B petition includes multiple components: $780 base filing fee, $600 Asylum Program Fee (waived or reduced for small employers and nonprofits), $1,500 ACWIA fee ($750 for small employers with <26 employees), $500 Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee, and potentially the $100,000 proclamation fee (exempt for change-of-status petitions). Premium processing is available for an additional $2,965 (as of March 2026).
You receive a receipt number — once USCIS accepts the petition, a receipt notice (I-797C) is generated. This is your tracking number. Ask your employer or attorney for it immediately.
Track your case — use your myUSCIS account or the GreenCardClock Case Status tool to monitor progress. Typical statuses: "Case Was Received," "Request for Evidence Sent," "Case Was Approved."
Respond to RFEs promptly — if USCIS issues a Request for Evidence (RFE), your employer/attorney has a maximum of 84 days (12 weeks) to respond, plus 3 additional days if responding by mail (87 days total). The deadline is the receipt date, not the postmark date. Common RFE topics include specialty occupation qualifications, employer-employee relationship, and wage level justification.
Approval and start date — if approved, your H-1B status begins October 1, 2026 (for FY2027). If you are already in the US on a different status (e.g., F-1 OPT), you may be able to start working on October 1 with the approval notice.

Cap-Gap Extension for F-1 Students

If you are currently on F-1 status (OPT or post-OPT) and your H-1B petition is filed as a change of status:

Your F-1 status and work authorization are automatically extended through April 1 of the fiscal year for which the H-1B is requested (updated rule effective January 17, 2025 — previously the cap-gap only extended through October 1)
If the petition is approved, your H-1B status begins on the requested start date (typically October 1)
If the petition is denied, withdrawn, or revoked, the cap-gap extension ends
To be eligible, you must be in valid F-1 status, not have violated immigration status terms, and be the beneficiary of a timely filed cap-subject petition requesting change of status (not consular processing)

Important for FY2027: F-1 students transitioning through change of status are exempt from the $100,000 proclamation fee. However, this exemption depends on properly maintaining F-1 status and cap-gap eligibility. Check with your DSO (Designated School Official) and immigration attorney.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Not asking for your receipt number — some beneficiaries never ask their employer for the receipt number and rely entirely on their attorney for updates. Get the receipt number and track it yourself as a backup.
Confusing "Selected" with "Approved" — being selected in the lottery means your employer can file the petition. Approval comes later, after USCIS adjudicates the petition.
Filing the wrong I-129 edition — the new 02/27/2026 edition is required for petitions received on or after April 1, 2026. Filing the old 01/20/2025 edition after that date will result in automatic rejection.
Missing the filing window — selected registrants must file between April 1 and June 30, 2026. Missing this window forfeits the selection.
Ignoring the $100K fee assessment — determine early whether the proclamation fee applies to your petition. Change-of-status petitions are exempt, but consular processing petitions are not. Payment must be submitted via pay.gov before filing.
Duplicate registrations — USCIS uses a beneficiary-centric selection process (since FY2025) to prevent fraud. Each beneficiary gets one chance in the lottery regardless of how many employers register them. Submitting multiple registrations through the same employer is prohibited and can result in denial and referral for investigation.

H-1B Filing Fees at a Glance

Fee	Amount	Notes
Registration fee	$215	Per beneficiary, paid during registration
I-129 base filing fee	$780	Required for all petitions
ACWIA training fee	$750 / $1,500	$750 for employers with ≤25 FT employees
Fraud Prevention fee	$500	Required for initial H-1B petitions
Asylum Program fee	$600	$300 for small employers, $0 for nonprofits
Proclamation fee	$100,000	Exempt for change-of-status petitions
Premium processing (optional)	$2,965	15 calendar day adjudication

Fee amounts as of March 2026. Verify current fees at uscis.gov/feecalculator. The $100,000 proclamation fee is paid via pay.gov separately.

Tips for Using Your myUSCIS Account

Enable notifications — turn on email and/or text alerts so you are notified immediately when your case status changes
Download documents — approval notices (I-797) and other documents are available as PDFs in your account
Send secure messages — you can communicate directly with USCIS about your case through the account messaging system
Track multiple cases — if you have other pending applications (EAD, AP, I-485, etc.), you can track them all in one place
Respond to RFEs online — for eligible cases, you can upload RFE responses directly through your account
Check processing times — USCIS publishes processing time estimates by form type and service center at egov.uscis.gov/processing-times

Track Your Case on GreenCardClock

In addition to your myUSCIS account, GreenCardClock offers free tools to help you stay on top of your immigration journey:

USCIS Case Status Tracker — enter any receipt number to check real-time case status and processing stage. No account required.
Priority Date Estimator — if you are in the green card queue, get an estimated timeline based on historical Visa Bulletin data and pending I-485 inventory
Salary Explorer — check what wage level your salary corresponds to — critical for understanding your odds under the new weighted lottery. Data sourced from DOL OFLC disclosure files.
Employer Tracker — research any employer's H-1B sponsorship history and filing volumes
PERM Tracker — if you are moving toward a green card, track PERM processing times and patterns

Data Sources

This guide is based on: USCIS FY 2027 H-1B Cap Season announcements (uscis.gov), the DHS final rule on wage-weighted H-1B selection (effective February 27, 2026), USCIS Form I-129 filing instructions (edition 02/27/2026), USCIS fee schedule (Form G-1055), the presidential proclamation on H-1B fees, and the January 2025 final rule extending F-1 cap-gap provisions.

This article provides general information about USCIS online accounts, the H-1B lottery process, and associated fees as of March 2026. USCIS procedures, fees, and timelines may change — always verify current instructions at uscis.gov. Fee amounts and proclamation requirements are subject to legal challenges and policy changes. This is not legal advice. Consult a qualified immigration attorney for guidance specific to your situation. Find one through the Attorney Directory.