U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has received sufficient petitions to meet the statutory maximum number of H-2B visas for the second half of fiscal year 2024 and announces filing dates for supplemental H-2B visa petitions for the remainder. fiscal year 2024 available under the H-2B Supplemental Visa Temporary Final Rule for FY 2024 .

Regulatory Maximum Number of H-2B Visas for the Second Half of Fiscal Year 2024

USCIS has received sufficient requests to comply with the regulatory maximum number of H-2B visas established by Congress for the second half of fiscal year 2024. March 7, 2024 was the final receipt date for new petitions for capped H-2B workers requesting a start date for employment in or after April 1, 2024 and before October 1, 2024. We will reject new capped H-2B petitions received after March 7, 2024 that request an employment start date on or after April 1, 2024. April 1, 2024, and before October 1, 2024.

We continue to accept H-2B petitions that are exempt from the congressionally mandated cap.  This includes requests for:

• Current H-2B workers in the United States who wish to extend their stay and, if applicable, change the terms of their employment or change employers;
• Fish roe processors, fish roe technicians and/or fish roe processing supervisors;  and
• Workers who perform work or services in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and/or Guam (until December 31, 2029).

Petition Filing Dates for the Second Half of Fiscal Year 2024 Supplemental Visas

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) jointly released a temporary final rule on November 17, 2023 that increased the statutory maximum number (or limit) of H-2B nonimmigrant visas by up to 64,716 additional visas for all of fiscal year 2024. These supplemental visas are available only to U.S. businesses that are suffering damage irreparable or will suffer imminent irreparable harm without the ability to employ all of the H-2B workers requested in your petition, as attested by the employer in the DOL Form ETA 9142-B-CAA-8 (PDF). These supplemental H-2B visas are for U.S. employers seeking to request additional workers at certain periods of the fiscal year.

Below are the filing start dates for each of the remaining supplemental visa allocations under the temporary final rule:

• For employers wishing to employ nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica, regardless of whether such nationals are returning workers: USCIS will begin accepting petitions from employers requesting an employment start date from April 1, 2024 through September 30, 2024, March 22, 2024. USCIS has begun accepting petitions from employers with employment start dates from October 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024, in November 2023. A count of visas subject to the maximum number for this specific allocation by country is available on the page Temporary Increase in H-2B Nonimmigrant Visas for Fiscal Year 2024.
• For employers requesting workers for the start of the second half of fiscal year 2024 (April 1 to May 14): USCIS will begin accepting petitions for the additional 19,000 visas available to returning workers, regardless of country of nationality, on March 22, 2024.
• For employers requesting workers by the end of the second half of fiscal year 2024 (May 15 to September 30): USCIS will begin accepting petitions for the additional 5,000 visas available to returning workers, regardless of country of nationality, on April 22, 2024.

USCIS will no longer accept petitions under this temporary final rule received after September 16, 2024 or after the applicable threshold has been reached, whichever occurs first.

USCIS had already announced that it had received enough petitions to meet the limit of 20,716 additional H-2B visas available for returning workers for the first half of fiscal year 2024 with employment start dates on or before March 31, 2024.

Additional information about supplemental visas for fiscal year 2024 is available on the page Temporary Increase in H-2B Nonimmigrant Visas for Fiscal Year 2024.

Reminder: Upcoming Changes to Required Fees and Form Edits for H-2B Petitions

On January 30, 2024, USCIS announced a final rule, published in the Federal Register, which adjusts the fees required for most immigration applications and petitions.  The new rates will go into effect on April 1, 2024. There will be no grace period to submit the new version of the No Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker, because the new rate calculation must be included.

H-2B petitions postmarked on or after April 1, 2024 They must include the new rates and be submitted in the 01/04/24 edition of the form or we will not accept them.  USCIS has published a I-129 draft version of the 01/04/24 edition of Form I-129 (PDF, 2.07 MB).