United States | H-2B visa updates: filing window, supplemental visas, processing times

H-2B visa filing and supplemental visa updates

On Dec. 31, 2025, the Department of Labor announced that it “will make an additional 35,000 H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas available for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026, on top of the congressionally mandated 66,000 H-2B visas that are available each fiscal year.”

The announcement states that the additional H-2B visas, including any eligibility criteria and filing requirements, are expected to be released “in the coming weeks” following the upcoming publication of a temporary final rule in the Federal Register.

The filing window to submit an H-2B Application for Temporary Employment Certification requesting work start dates of April 1, 2026, or later was Jan. 1-3, 2026.

On Jan. 5, 2026, the Office of Foreign Labor Certification announced publication of the list of randomized H-2B visa applications submitted during the filing window, which included assignment group(s) for 10,062 H-2B applications covering 162,603 positions with the April 1, 2026, work start date.

According to the announcement, on Jan. 4, 2026, OFLC provided written notice to each employer (and the employer’s authorized attorney or agent) with information regarding their respective assignment groups.

H-2B visa processing times updates

Following are the H-2B visa processing times updated as of close of business on Jan. 3, 2026.

Update on applications received for requested date of need from Oct. 1, 2025, through March 31, 2026 (FY 2026 first half of the visa cap):

DOL reported that as of Jan. 3, a total of 5,002 cases were issued Final Decisions. Certified positions for this period were allocated for 94,534 workers.

Update on applications received for requested date of need from April 1, 2026 (FY 2026 second half of the visa cap):

Although no final decisions and certified positions have yet been issued, DOL does provide a numerical breakdown of the assignment groups with total cases submitted and positions requested during the Jan. 1-3 filing window.

H-2B Prevailing Wage Determination (PWD) processing times:

As of Jan. 3, the number of remaining requests for H-2B visa PWD applications received in November 2025 was 4,054. The number of remaining requests for October was 32 and for September was 34. These numbers are the same as posted by DOL as of Dec. 1, 2025, reflecting little or no movement month-over-month.

Learn more about H-2B visas and how BAL can help H-2B employers with hiring seasonal workers here.

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

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