H-2B visa seekers will be eagerly waiting for the new year. The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) has reminded US employers and other interested stakeholders that the filing window to submit an H-2B Application for Temporary Employment Certification (Form ETA-9142B and appendices) requesting work start dates of April 1, 2026, or later, will open on January 1, 2026, at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
H-2B program is used by American companies to hire foreign nationals for temporary non-agricultural occupations in the United States. 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 Filing Rules
Following OFLC’s standard operating procedures, H-2B applications requesting an April 1, 2026, work start date will be denied if they are filed before January 1, 2026, at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
OFLC will randomly order for processing all H-2B applications requesting a work start date of April 1, 2026, that are filed during the initial three calendar days (January 1-3, 2026) using the randomization procedures published in the Federal Register on March 4, 2019.
Rejection Watchouts
If OFLC identifies multiple applications that appear to have been filed for the same job opportunity, OFLC will issue a Notice of Deficiency. If multiple filings are submitted during the three-day filing window, all applications will receive a Notice of Deficiency requesting that the employer demonstrate that the job opportunities are not the same. Employers that fail to establish a bona fide need for each application will receive a non-acceptance denial for each application.
Employers are also reminded that Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) System user accounts are solely for the use of the individual for whom they were created. Sharing the same user account is forbidden and is grounds for terminating FLAG access.
H-2B Annual Cap
In September 2025, all H-2B visa slots for the first half of fiscal year 2026 have been filled, as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services received enough petitions to meet the established H-2B 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).