United States | Cap reached for second allocation of H-2B visas for returning workers

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it has received enough petitions to reach the cap for the second allocation of returning worker H‑2B visas for fiscal year (FY) 2026.

Key takeaways:

Cap reached for second returning worker allocation. USCIS has received enough petitions to reach the cap for the additional 27,736 H‑2B visas made available under the second allocation of returning workers for FY 2026. This allocation applied to petitions with employment start dates from April 1 through April 30, 2026.

Final receipt date passed. April 21, 2026, was the final receipt date for petitions requesting supplemental H‑2B visas under this second returning worker allocation. Any cap‑subject petitions received after this date will be rejected.

Filing window open for third allocation of H-2B visas for employment start dates from May 1–Sept. 30, 2026. There are 18,490 visas allocated for the third tranche of H-2B visas (plus any unused visas from the first and second allocations). According to USCIS, “These petitions must request employment start dates from May 1 through Sept. 30, 2026. Employers must file these petitions no earlier than April 24, 2026, 45 days after the second half statutory cap is reached. Employers must also file these petitions no later than Sept. 15, 2026.”

Additional information: The FY 2026 supplemental H‑2B visas are available only to U.S. employers that attest they are suffering or will suffer irreparable harm without the requested workers. The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Labor previously authorized up to 64,716 supplemental H‑2B visas for FY 2026 under a temporary final rule. USCIS previously announced the cap was reached for the first allocation of H-2B visas for returning workers in March.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.

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