USCIS Has Reached H-2B Cap for First Half of FY 2023

On September 14, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the agency had received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated cap on H-2B visas for temporary nonagricultural workers for the first half of FY 2023. September 12 was the final receipt date for new cap-subject H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date before April 1, 2023. Congress currently has the H-2B cap set at 66,000 visas per fiscal year with 33,000 for workers who begin employment in the first half of the fiscal year (October 1 - March 31) and 33,000 for workers who begin employment during the second half of the fiscal year (April 1 - September 30). USCIS will continue to accept H-2B petitions that fall under the following situations:

• Fish roe processors, fish roe technicians, and/or supervisors of fish roe processing
• Current H-2B workers in the United States who extend their stay, change employers, or change the terms and conditions of their employment
• Workers performing labor or services in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands and/or Guam from Nov. 28, 2009, until Dec. 31, 2029

The USCIS will reject new cap-subject H-2B petitions received after September 12 with a requested start date before April 1, 2023.