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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsThe apparent mismatch in H-1B numbers comes from comparing different things: annual cap allocations, employer registrations, selected registrations and approved petitions. The cap generally limits new cap-subject cases; it is not a ceiling on every H-1B petition approved in a year. Those distinctions explain the arithmetic, but they do not by themselves prove that the program is fair, discriminatory or fraudulent.
How many H-1B visas are available each year?
Current law generally provides 65,000 regular cap numbers and a separate 20,000 exemption for eligible workers with U.S. advanced degrees, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS) in 2025. These figures describe allocations for cap-subject cases, not the maximum number of H-1B petitions that may be approved in a year.
Some cases do not count against those allocations. CRS identifies extensions and workers at institutions of higher education and certain related qualifying entities among the cap-exempt cases. The cap generally limits new H-1B status, so the population covered by the annual allocations is narrower than the population in annual approval totals.
Why are there more H-1B approvals than the cap?
Because an approval total includes petitions outside the annual cap allocations. In its 2025 report, CRS says that more than 386,000 H-1B employer petitions were approved in fiscal year (FY) 2023; 69% were for continuing employment. That total is not a count of new cap-subject workers entering H-1B status that year.
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The figures below refer to different measures and, in some cases, different fiscal years. They should not be added together or treated as successive counts of the same group of people.
| Measure | Figure | What it counts | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cap allocations | 65,000 regular cap numbers, plus a separate 20,000 U.S. advanced-degree exemption | Allocations for cap-subject cases under current law; some cases are exempt | CRS, 2025 |
| Registrations | 780,884 for FY 2024 | Employer-submitted entries during the registration process, not approved petitions | USCIS, FY 2024 characteristics report |
| Registrations | 470,342 for FY 2025 | Employer-submitted entries during the registration process, not approved petitions | USCIS, FY 2024 characteristics report, reporting FY 2025 process data |
| Total registration selections | 135,137 for FY 2025, after an additional selection round | Registrations selected to proceed to the petition-filing stage; selection is not approval | USCIS, FY 2024 characteristics report, reporting FY 2025 process data |
| Approved employer petitions | More than 386,000 in FY 2023; 69% were for continuing employment | Approved petitions across categories, including continuing employment—not just new cap-subject cases | CRS, 2025 |
What is the difference between a registration, a selection and an approval?
They are separate stages, not interchangeable counts:
- Registration: An employer submits an entry during the registration period. USCIS reported 780,884 registrations for FY 2024 and 470,342 for FY 2025.
- Selection: USCIS selects registrations that may proceed to the next stage. The FY 2025 total of 135,137 selections includes an additional round. Selection estimates and later rounds help explain why selections can exceed the nominal cap allocations; selection itself does not establish that a petition was filed or approved.
- Petition filing and approval: A selected employer can proceed to file a petition. Approval totals include continuing employment and other categories beyond new cap-subject cases. CRS’s FY 2023 figure illustrates why an annual approval total cannot be compared directly with the cap.
In particular, the FY 2024 and FY 2025 registration totals are not counts of people who received visas, while the FY 2023 approval total is not the final stage for those later registration cohorts.
Do high registration numbers prove fraud?
No. USCIS set the FY 2025 registration fee at $10 per beneficiary registration and described enforcement against coordinated registrations. That enforcement context matters to registration integrity, but a large registration count alone does not show that registrations were fraudulent. Nor does the number of registrations reveal how many selected cases ultimately became approved petitions.
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Does the H-1B program take jobs from U.S. workers?
The counts above cannot answer that question. The H-1B program allows U.S. employers to hire temporary foreign workers in specialty occupations requiring a college degree, as CRS describes it. Proponents argue that it helps employers obtain specialized workers; critics and some researchers raise concerns about effects on U.S. workers and worker protections.
CRS’s February 2025 report examines two recent quasi-experimental studies and frames the measurement of labor-market effects as a question involving study design and selection issues. The figures in this article do not establish a net employment effect, and they should not be used as proof either that H-1B workers displace U.S. workers or that they do not. A useful assessment needs evidence about outcomes for employers, H-1B workers and U.S. workers—not just cap or registration totals.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What changed in H-1B selection in 2026?
A weighted selection rule took effect on February 27, 2026. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), in a January 20, 2026 report, said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) described the rule as generally favoring higher-paid and higher-skilled beneficiaries while maintaining an opportunity for employers to secure H-1B workers at all wage levels. That is DHS’s stated policy intent as reported by GAO, not a finding that the rule has achieved those results.
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The rule concerns selection of registrations for cap-subject petitions. Its stated aim does not change the distinction between registrations, selections, petition approvals and the broader total of approved cases. The sources cited here do not establish the rule’s measured post-implementation effects.
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