Going from OPT to H1B runs on a fixed federal calendar, and most of the risk sits in the gaps between its dates. An employer registers you in March, USCIS selects registrations by the end of that month, the employer files a petition from 1 April, and the earliest an approved H-1B can start is 1 October. Your OPT card usually ends somewhere in between, and the cap-gap rule decides whether you can keep working across that stretch. This post lays out the calendar with the official numbers, explains cap gap from the USCIS page itself, covers what to do if you are not selected, and turns it all into a search plan by month.
It is general information, not legal advice. For your own case, talk to your school's designated school official (DSO) or an immigration attorney.
The timeline
Here is the sequence for a cap-subject employer, which is most private companies. Each step comes from a USCIS or DHS page, cited inline.
| Step | When | What the rule says |
|---|---|---|
| Apply for OPT | Up to 90 days before you finish your degree, no later than 60 days after | USCIS OPT page; you must also file within 30 days of your DSO's recommendation |
| OPT runs | Up to 12 months per degree level | Same page; pre-completion OPT time is deducted |
| Registration | March (FY2027: 4 to 19 March 2026) | USCIS registration page, $215 per registration |
| Selection notice | By 31 March | USCIS FY2027 alert |
| Petition filed | From 1 April | USCIS says 1 April is the earliest filing date, and a cap-subject petition must be based on a selected registration |
| Cap gap | From the end of your OPT until the H-1B starts | USCIS cap-gap page |
| H-1B starts | 1 October at the earliest | Same cap-gap page |
As of 18 October 2026, the eCFR text shows 30 days rather than 60 for the OPT filing deadline because of a July 2026 rule that a court blocked on 14 September 2026; see what OPT is and how to file.
Two rules explain why the calendar looks like this. USCIS says an employer "may not file, and USCIS may not accept" a cap-subject petition more than six months before the work starts, and the fiscal year the cap belongs to begins on 1 October. Six months before 1 October is 1 April.
The other thing to hold onto: you do not register yourself. The prospective employer registers you, which means you need an offer, or at least an employer willing to register you, before the March window opens.
How many March windows your OPT covers
This is the calculation most students skip. It is illustrative, and it assumes registration keeps falling in March as it did for FY2027.
Take a student who finishes a degree in May 2027 and starts 12 months of post-completion OPT in June 2027:
- March 2027, while still in school, if an employer has already made an offer.
- March 2028, during OPT. A selection here leads to a petition in April 2028, while the OPT card is still valid, so the cap gap can carry work authorization past the card's June 2028 end date to an October 2028 start.
If the same student qualifies for the 24-month STEM extension, OPT runs to about June 2030, which adds March 2029 and March 2030. That is the practical value of STEM OPT for an H-1B plan: two more seasons, not a better chance in any one of them.
Registration and selection
USCIS publishes registration and selection counts for each cap year. The last column is our arithmetic, selected divided by eligible registrations:
| Cap fiscal year | Eligible registrations | Selected | Selected share |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 | 758,994 | 188,400 | 24.8% |
| FY2025 | 470,342 | 135,137 | 28.7% |
| FY2026 | 343,981 | 120,141 | 34.9% |
Source: USCIS, H-1B Electronic Registration Process, page updated 21 September 2026. The cap itself is 65,000 regular slots plus 20,000 for beneficiaries with a US master's degree or higher, according to USCIS's cap season page.
FY2027 changed the method. DHS's final rule on a "Weighted Selection Process", published 29 December 2025 and effective 27 February 2026, weights each unique beneficiary by the highest OEWS wage level the offered salary meets. A level IV registration enters the pool four times, level III three times, level II twice and level I once. DHS's own projection put a level I registration at a 15.29 percent chance of selection, level II at 30.58 percent, level III over 45 percent and level IV over 61 percent. Those were estimates made before the season, not results.
What came out of the first weighted season, from Fragomen and SHRM, both citing USCIS's preliminary figures:
- 211,600 registrations for FY2027, down 38.5 percent from 343,981.
- 71.5 percent of selected beneficiaries held US advanced degrees, up from 57 percent in FY2026.
- 17.7 percent of selected registrations were at the lowest wage level.
- The cap was reached on 17 July 2026 and there will be no second selection.
USCIS has not published the FY2027 selected count, so the "about 40 percent odds" you will see online is a division of 85,000 by 211,600, not a measured rate. The H-1B lottery post takes that number apart.
For an OPT student the lesson is concrete. The wage level on your registration now changes your odds, and it depends on the offered salary for that occupation and area. It is fair to ask an employer which level it plans to register you at.
Costs on the employer are moving
Three items affect whether an employer will register you at all. None of them is a fee you pay.
- The $100,000 payment. USCIS's alert page records that a federal district court vacated the agency's guidance implementing the payment on 8 June 2026, that the First Circuit denied a stay on 24 July 2026, and that DHS "will comply with the court's order while DHS considers next steps." A White House fact sheet of 18 September 2026 says a new proclamation renews the requirement.
- A proposed $103,265 fee. DHS proposed on 25 August 2026 a fee "for all H-1B cap-subject petitions". Comments closed on 24 September 2026. It is a proposal.
- A proposed OPT fee. On 8 October 2026 ICE published a notice of proposed rulemaking for fees of $70,000 for initial OPT and $30,000 for any subsequent OPT, paid by the school. It is not in effect.
Check the primary pages before you rely on any of this, including this summary. The practical effect for your search is that past sponsors may be more cautious, which makes the sponsorship question worth asking at the first call.
Cap gap
The cap-gap extension is the bridge between the end of your OPT and the start of your H-1B. Everything below is from USCIS's cap-gap page, last updated 17 January 2025.
What it covers. The cap-gap period starts when your F-1 status and employment authorization would expire and "ends on April 1 of the fiscal year for which the H-1B status is being requested", or on the petition's start date if that is earlier.
What changed in 2025. The cap gap used to end on 1 October. DHS's H-1B modernization rule, effective 17 January 2025, moved the end to "April 1 of the relevant fiscal year to avoid disruptions in lawful status and employment authorization." For an FY2028 petition, that is 1 April 2028. In practice the change protects you if your petition is still pending when 1 October arrives.
Who qualifies. The petition must be a properly and timely filed cap-subject petition based on a selected registration, it must request a change of status rather than consular processing, and it must be filed while you are still in status, which includes your program, your OPT and the 60-day grace period.
Work versus status. This is the line that matters most:
| When the employer files | What extends |
|---|---|
| While your OPT is still valid | F-1 status and work authorization |
| During your 60-day grace period, after OPT ended | F-1 status only; USCIS says you "will not be authorized to work" |
So a student whose card ends in May has every reason to want the petition filed in April, not June.
When it ends early. The extension "will automatically terminate" if the petition is denied, withdrawn, revoked, rejected or not selected, or if the change of status is denied or withdrawn. You then get the standard 60-day grace period, unless the denial was for a status violation, misrepresentation or fraud.
Proof. The extension is automatic and needs no new EAD. USCIS says the only proof currently available is an updated Form I-20 from your DSO, issued once you show evidence of a timely filed petition, such as a copy and the mailing receipt. You may keep working while it is processed.
Travel. If you leave the country while the petition and change of status are pending, USCIS says "the request for change of status will be considered abandoned". Talk to your DSO before booking anything.
STEM OPT inside the gap. USCIS says eligible students "may apply for a STEM OPT extension during the cap-gap extension period", but not after the extension has ended and the grace period has begun.
If you are not selected
Not being selected does not end your OPT. You can work to the end date on your card. What it removes is the cap gap, because there is no petition. Your options, in the order most students reach for them:
1. The STEM OPT extension. USCIS's STEM OPT page describes a 24-month extension for a qualifying STEM bachelor's, master's or doctoral degree, with an employer that must "Be enrolled in E-Verify" and a Form I-983 training plan. You may file "up to 90 days before your current OPT employment authorization expires", and if your card expires while a timely application is pending, USCIS will "automatically extend your employment authorization for 180 days." If your current employer is not in E-Verify, the extension needs a new employer, which makes it a job search item, not paperwork. The STEM OPT extension guide covers how to find an E-Verify employer and read the I-983.
2. A cap-exempt employer. USCIS lists workers at an institution of higher education, its related or affiliated nonprofit entities, a nonprofit research organization or a government research organization as exempt from the cap. Their petitions do not go through the registration lottery. Universities, university hospitals and research institutes are the places to start.
3. Another season. If your OPT or STEM OPT covers another March, the plan is the same employer registering you again, or a new one. Ask early.
4. Another degree. Study in the States says "Twelve months of Regular OPT is available for each higher level of study." It is a large decision with its own costs, so it belongs in a conversation with your DSO, not a reaction to one March. If a program you are weighing advertises Day 1 CPT, read what Day 1 CPT is and the risks to check before you enroll.
Other visa categories exist, among them the O-1 visa that some engineers and founders qualify for, and whether any fits you is a question for an attorney.
A search plan by month
The plan works backwards from March, because the employer has to register you then. The months below are for a student finishing in May; shift them for other end dates.
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| June to September, a year before graduation | Build the target list: past sponsors from USCIS data, cap-exempt employers, and E-Verify employers if you hold a STEM degree. The guide to companies that sponsor H1B shows how to build it from the Employer Data Hub. |
| September to December | Apply at volume to the list. Ask about sponsorship in the first recruiter call, not at the offer. |
| January to February | If you have an offer, confirm in writing that the employer will register you, and ask about the wage level. Talk to your DSO about OPT timing. |
| February to May | File for OPT inside the window: up to 90 days before your program ends, within 30 days of the DSO's recommendation. |
| March | Your employer registers you. Selection notices go out by the end of the month. |
| April to June | If selected: the employer files from 1 April. Get the cap-gap I-20 if your card ends before October. If not selected: start the STEM OPT and cap-exempt tracks the same week. |
| Every month on OPT | Count unemployment days. |
The unemployment count is the constraint that makes this a search problem. Study in the States says a student on post-completion OPT "can be unemployed for a total of 90 days", and USCIS allows 150 days in total across the whole period for students on the 24-month STEM extension. Our post on OPT unemployment days covers how the count works.
Two habits help. First, apply where an offer can turn into a registration: past sponsors in your field, cap-exempt employers, and roles whose posting does not rule out sponsorship. Second, answer the work authorization questions honestly on every form. On OPT you are usually authorized to work today and will need sponsorship later, and the form should say both, because the employer files the petition and a wrong answer surfaces at the offer.
If you want help with the volume, ApplyEze finds fresh roles on company career pages and fills applications in a browser on your own machine. It takes hard facts from your profile and reuses the work authorization and EEO answers you save. When a required question is not covered by them, it still fills it rather than stopping the run, so that answer may not come from you, which is where an automated application for an international candidate can go wrong. Fill in your saved answers, use dry run first, and read your receipts.
For context on how many people are on this path: IIE's Open Doors 2025 counted a record 294,253 students on OPT in 2024/25, up 21 percent from the prior year.