USCIS Reaches Maximum H-2B Visa Limit for First Half of Fiscal Year 2024
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The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has reached the congressionally mandated cap on H-2B visas for temporary nonagricultural workers for the first half of fiscal year 2024. The final date for accepting new cap-subject H-2B worker petitions with a requested employment start date before April 1, 2024, was October 11, 2023. Any petitions received after this date shall be rejected.
However, USCIS will continue to accept H-2B petitions that fall under exemptions from the congressionally mandated cap. These exemptions include:
- Petitions for current H-2B workers in the United States who extend their stay, change employers, or change the terms and conditions of their employment;
- Petitions for fish roe processors, fish roe technicians, and/or supervisors of fish roe processing; and
- Petitions for workers performing labor or services in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands and/or Guam from Nov. 28, 2009, until Dec. 31, 2029.
The H-2B program allows eligible U.S. employers or U.S. agents, in accordance with specific regulatory criteria, to recruit foreign nationals for temporary nonagricultural positions in the United States.
Currently, the H-2B cap stands at 66,000 visas per fiscal year, with 33,000 allocated for workers starting employment in the first half of the fiscal year (October 1 to March 31) and another 33,000 (plus any unused numbers from the first half of the fiscal year) reserved for workers commencing employment in the second half of the fiscal year (April 1 to September 30).