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

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.

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.

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.