U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has received enough petitions to reach the cap for the additional 19,000 H-2B visas made available for returning workers for the early second half of fiscal year (FY) 2024 with start dates from April 1 to May 14, 2024, under the H-2B supplemental cap temporary final rule (FY 2024 TFR). April 17, 2024, was the final receipt date for petitions requesting supplemental H-2B visas under the FY 2024 early second-half returning worker allocation.
Of the 64,716 additional visas, 44,716 are available only for returning workers (workers who received an H-2B visa or were otherwise granted H-2B status in one of the last three fiscal years). The remaining 20,000 visas are set aside for nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, and Costa Rica (country-specific allocation) who are exempt from the returning worker requirement.
USCIS is still accepting petitions for H-2B nonimmigrant workers for the additional 20,000 visas allotted for nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, and Costa Rica (country-specific allocation) who are exempt from the returning worker requirement, as well as those who are exempt from the congressionally mandated cap.
Starting April 22, 2024, we will begin accepting petitions for workers for the late second half of FY 2024, requesting employment start dates from May 15 to Sept. 30, 2024. The 5,000 visas made available under this allocation are limited to returning workers who were issued H-2B visas or held H-2B status in fiscal years 2021, 2022, or 2023, regardless of country of nationality.
The total number of foreigners who may receive an H–2B nonimmigrant visa is up by 64,716 for the FY 2024. The 64,716 visas are divided into the following allocations:
For the first half of FY 2024: 20,716 immediately available visas limited to returning workers, in other words, those workers who were issued H–2B visas or held H–2B status in fiscal years 2021, 2022, or 2023, regardless of country of nationality. These petitions must have requested employment start dates on or before March 31, 2024;
For the early second half of FY 2024 (April 1 to May 14): 19,000 visas limited to returning workers, in other words, those workers who were issued H–2B visas or held H–2B status in fiscal years 2021, 2022, or 2023 regardless of country of nationality. These early second half of FY 2024 petitions must request employment start dates from April 1, 2024, to May 14, 2024. Furthermore, employers must file these petitions no earlier than 15 days after the second-half statutory cap is reached.
For the late second half of FY 2024: (May 15 to September 30): 5,000 visas limited to returning workers, in other words, those workers who were issued H–2B visas or held H–2B status in fiscal years 2021, 2022, or 2023 regardless of country of nationality. These late second half of FY 2024 petitions must request employment start dates from May 15, 2024, to September 30, 2024. Furthermore, employers must file these petitions no earlier than 45 days after the second-half statutory cap is reached; and
For the entirety of FY 2024: 20,000 visas reserved for nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, and Costa Rica (country-specific allocation) as attested by the petitioner (regardless of whether such nationals are returning workers).
Employers requesting an employment start date in the first half of FY 2024 may file such petitions immediately after the publication of this TFR. Employers requesting an employment start date in the second half of FY 2024 must file such petitions no earlier than 15 days after the second-half statutory cap is reached.
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended, establishes the H–2B nonimmigrant classification for a nonagricultural temporary worker “having a residence in a foreign country which he has no intention of abandoning who is coming temporarily to the United States to perform temporary non-agricultural service or labor if unemployed persons capable of performing such service or labor cannot be found in this country (America).