Cap reached for latest round of H-2B Visas

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated cap on H-2B visas for temporary nonagricultural workers for the first half of fiscal year (FY) 2023. Sept. 12, 2022, was the final receipt date for new cap-subject H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date before April 1, 2023. USCIS will reject new cap-subject H-2B petitions received after Sept. 12, 2022, that request an employment start date before April 1, 2023.

USCIS continues to accept H-2B petitions that are exempt from the congressionally mandated cap. This includes petitions for:

• Current H-2B workers in the U.S. who extend their stay, change employers, or change the terms and conditions of their employment.
• Fish roe processors, fish roe technicians, and/or supervisors of fish roe processing.
• Workers performing labor or services in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands and/or Guam from Nov. 28, 2009, until Dec. 31, 2029.

U.S. businesses use the H-2B program to employ foreign workers for temporary nonagricultural jobs. Currently, Congress has set the H-2B cap at 66,000 per fiscal year, with 33,000 for workers who begin employment in the first half of the fiscal year — Oct. 1 to March 31 — and 33,000 — plus any unused numbers from the first half of the fiscal year — for workers who begin employment in the second half of the fiscal year which is from April 1 to Sept. 30.

For more information, visit the Cap Count for H-2B Nonimmigrants page.