United States: H-2B Cap Reached for Second Half of FY 2023; Filing Dates Announced for Second Half of FY 2023 Supplemental H-2B Visas
March 2, 2023
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At a glance
- On February 27, 2023, USCIS received enough H-2B petitions to exhaust the cap for the second half of FY 2023.
- USCIS will reject H-2B petitions received after February 27, 2023 that request a start date on or after April 1, 2023 and before October 1, 2023, unless the petition is exempt from the H-2B cap.
- USCIS also announced filing dates for the supplemental H-2B visa numbers available in the second half of FY 2023. The filing dates differ depending on the case type, requested employment start date and nationality of the H-2B worker.
A closer look
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that the H-2B cap for the second half of FY 2023 has been reached. February 27, 2023 was the final receipt date for new cap-subject H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date on or after April 1, 2023, and before October 1, 2023. USCIS will reject any new H-2B petitions received after February 27, 2023 requesting these start dates.
For cap-subject H-2B petitions received by USCIS on February 27, the agency conducted a computer-generated selection process and will notify employers whether their petition was selected for adjudication. The agency will continue to accept H-2B petitions that are exempt from the cap; exempt petitions include those in which current H-2B workers are seeking to extend their stay, change employers, or change the terms of their H-2B employment.
USCIS also announced the filing dates for supplemental H-2B petitions for the remainder of FY 2023. These supplemental H-2B visas were made available under the December 2022 temporary rule authorizing 64,716 additional H-2B visas for the fiscal year.
Background
The H-2B cap for each fiscal year is 66,000, with 33,000 for workers who begin employment in the first half of the fiscal year (October 1 – March 31) and 33,000 for workers who begin employment in the second half of the fiscal year (April 1 – September 30). USCIS accepts filings in excess of this amount to account for petition withdrawals, revocations and denials, as well as cases in which employers ultimately employ fewer H-2B workers than requested in their petitions.
In December 2022, the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Labor (DOL) authorized an additional 64,716 H-2B visa numbers for FY 2023. The additional visas are made available in a series of allocations over the course of FY 2023.
Filing dates for remaining supplemental H-2B allocations
Fiscal Year 2023 supplemental H-2B visas are available in separate allotments based on the case type, requested employment start date, and the nationality of the H-2B worker. For the second half of FY 2023, the supplemental visas are divided into the following allocations, with corresponding filing dates:
- Nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Haiti: There are 20,000 supplemental visas reserved for nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Haiti over the entirety of FY 2023. On March 14, 2023, USCIS will begin accepting petitions requesting an employment start date from April 1, 2023 to September 30, 2023 for nationals of these countries. USCIS began accepting petitions requesting employment start dates from October 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023 in December 2022 and will continue to accept these petitions. A cap count for the Northern Central American/Haiti allocation is available on the USCIS Temporary Increase in H-2B for FY 2023 webpage. As of February 16, 2023, USCIS reports a combined total of 5,306 H-2B beneficiaries of pending and approved petitions in this category.
- Returning workers for the early second half of FY 2023: 16,500 supplemental visas have been allocated to returning workers of any nationality with requested employment start dates between April 1, 2023 and May 14, 2023. USCIS will begin accepting petitions for these workers on March 14, 2023.
- Returning workers for the late second half of FY 2023: 10,000 supplemental visas have been allocated to returning workers of any nationality with requested employment start dates between May 15, 2023 and September 30, 2023. USCIS will begin accepting petitions for these workers on April 13, 2023.
What it means
Employers whose H-2B petitions for the second half of FY 2023 were received by USCIS on February 27 will soon learn whether their petitions were selected for adjudication. Employers seeking to file new H-2B petitions under the supplemental H-2B visa allocation for the second half of FY 2023 may do so according to the filing timeline that applies to the worker’s case.
This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen.
