The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that the cap for H-2B visas for the first half of fiscal year 2025 has been reached, with the cutoff date for new petitions being September 18. This announcement affects all new H-2B worker petitions for temporary non-agricultural positions intending to commence employment before April 1, 2025. USCIS has confirmed that it will reject any new cap-subject H-2B petitions received after this date that request a start date prior to April.
Despite this cap, USCIS will continue to accept petitions that are exempt from it. Exempt categories include H-2B workers already in the U.S. who wish to change employers, extend their stays, or modify their employment terms, as well as fish roe processors, fish roe processing supervisors, and fish roe technicians. Additionally, workers in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam from November 28, 2009, to December 31, 2029, also fall under exempt categories.
The H-2B visa program is crucial for non-agricultural sectors experiencing temporary labor shortages, particularly benefiting industries such as hospitality, tourism, seafood processing, and landscaping. In November 2023, USCIS increased the H-2B cap by 64,716 visas for fiscal year 2024, as part of the U.S. government’s broader efforts under the Los Angeles Declaration for Migration and Protection to manage labor shortages by expanding lawful migration pathways.
This expansion distributed 20,000 visas to nationals from select countries including Colombia and Honduras, while reserving the remaining 44,716 visas for returning workers who had previously obtained H-2B status within the last three years. To qualify for an H-2B visa, employers must demonstrate the lack of available U.S. workers, ensure that employing H-2B workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similar U.S. workers, confirm the temporary nature of the employment need, and commit to paying a wage that meets or exceeds the prevailing, federal, state, or local minimum wage.
The application process for an H-2B visa involves the U.S. employer filing Form I-129 for the nonimmigrant worker, followed by labor certification approval from the U.S. Department of Labor, and USCIS approval. Once the petition is approved, workers can apply for the visa through an electronic DS-160 form or an interview waiver, depending on their specific circumstances.
Countries eligible for the H-2B visa include Andorra, Australia, and Canada, while India remains ineligible due to high denial rates and concerns over visa abuse. This eligibility list is dynamic and can change based on USCIS’s assessments of potential risks to U.S. interests.
Source: https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/h-2b-visa-cap-achieved-uscis-to-reject-new-petitions-starting-april-2025/
