U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it has reached the H-2B cap for the first half of fiscal year 2025.

Key Points:

  • USCIS has received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated cap on H-2B visas for temporary nonagricultural workers for the first half of FY 2025.
  • The final receipt date for new cap-subject worker petitions requesting a start date before April 1, 2025, was Sept. 18.
  • The agency is still accepting H-2B petitions exempt from the cap, including:
    • Current H-2B workers in the U.S. who extend their stay, change employers or change the terms and conditions of their employment.
    • Fish roe processors, technicians and supervisors.
    • Workers in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and/or Guam.

Additional Information: The congressional cap on H-2B visas is 66,000 per fiscal year, with 33,000 for workers beginning employment in the first half of the fiscal year (Oct. 1 to March 31) and 33,000 (plus any unused from the first half of the fiscal year) for workers beginning employment in the second half of the fiscal year (April 1 to Sept. 30).

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

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