The H-1B cap registration window opens in March. The cases that get filed in March are decided in October — when the previous fiscal year's hires either materialize or don't. By the time most HR teams start "preparing for cap season," the smart preparation window has already closed. Here's what mid-market companies should be doing in October to set up the next cap cycle, and why H-1B cap contingency planning matters more than how many petitions you file.
Run the inventory. Pull a list of every employee and every active offer who would benefit from an H-1B. Don't filter for 'definitely needs one' — include the maybes. The maybes are where the surprises live.
Map the alternatives. For each person on the list, identify at least one non-cap pathway: O-1, L-1, TN, Cap-Exempt employer affiliation, country-specific options. If you can't name an alternative, that's a person you can't afford to lose to the lottery.
Lock in counsel capacity. Good immigration boutiques fill their March bandwidth by January. If you're calling in February, you're getting whoever's left. Reserve the slots now, even if you cancel half later.
Brief the candidates. The cap lottery is one of the most demoralizing experiences in the US immigration system, and most of it is preventable confusion. A 30-minute conversation in October — what the lottery is, what the odds are, what happens if they don't get selected — buys you enormous goodwill.
Decide your tie-breaker rules now, not in April. If you can sponsor twelve people and you have eighteen, you need a written tie-breaker rule before March, not a panicked Slack thread on selection day. Role criticality, time-to-replace, retention risk — pick two and document them.
None of this is hard. All of it is easier in October than in February.