Foreign workers looking to work in the US may have to wait a little longer. The demand for H-2B visas is soaring. All H-2B visa slots for the first half of fiscal year 2026 have been filled.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has received enough petitions to meet the congressionally established H-2B cap for the first half of fiscal year 2026.
September 12 was the final receipt date for new cap-subject H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date before April 1, 2026.
USCIS will reject new cap-subject H-2B petitions that it receives after September 12, that request an employment start date before April 1, 2026.
The new window for H-2B visa petitions for job start after April 1, 2026, will open from the next fiscal year i.e., October 1, 2025.
What is an H-2B Visa
H-2B program is used by American companies to hire foreign nationals for temporary non-agricultural occupations in the United States. However, USCIS has reached the H-2B cap for first half of fiscal year 2026.
The maximum length of stay under the H-2B classification is three years. A person who has had H-2B nonimmigrant status for three years must leave the United States and stay outside for three months before applying for reentry.
H-2B Annual Cap
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), there is a statutory numerical limit, or cap, on the total number of foreigners who may receive an H-2B visa during a fiscal year.
Currently, Congress has set the H-2B cap at 66,000 per fiscal year, with 33,000 for workers who begin employment in the first half of the fiscal year (Oct. 1 – March 31) and 33,000 for workers who begin employment in the second half of the fiscal year (April 1 – Sep. 30).
On September 16, USCIS announced that they have received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated H-2B cap of 33,000, for the first half of fiscal year 2026.
Any unused numbers from the first half of the fiscal year will be available for employers seeking to hire H-2B workers during the second half of the fiscal year. Unused H-2B numbers from one fiscal year do not carry over into the next fiscal year.