United States | FY 2026 H-2B visa cap reached for certain workers

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

Key takeaways:

Petitions exceeded visa availability. USCIS confirmed that it received more petitions than available visas for the first allocation of returning worker H‑2B visas for FY 2026.

First allocation group details. USCIS reached the cap for 18,490 supplemental H‑2B visas reserved for returning workers in the first FY 2026 allocation. The allocation applied to petitions requesting employment start dates between Jan. 1 and March 31, 2026, under the FY 2026 H‑2B supplemental cap temporary final rule. Feb. 6, 2026, was the final receipt date for petitions requesting visas under this allocation.

Random selection process details. In accordance with applicable regulations, USCIS used a computer‑generated random selection process to fairly allocate available visas without exceeding the cap. The agency conducted the random selection on Feb. 13, 2026, for petitions received during the first five business days of filing, from Feb. 2 to Feb. 6, 2026. Premium processing services began after completing the random selection process.

Additional information: The Office of Foreign Labor Certification published an updated list of the names of foreign labor recruiters for the H-2B program. The H-2B Foreign Labor Recruiter List includes only those names and locations associated with H-2B applications that were processed or issued final decisions from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2025.

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

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