USCIS announced it had received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated cap on H-2B visas for temporary nonagricultural workers for the first half of fiscal year (FY) 2023. USCIS will reject new cap-subject H-2B petitions received after September 12, 2022, that request an employment start date before April 1, 2023.
USCIS continues to accept H-2B petitions exempt from the congressionally mandated cap. This includes petitions for current H-2B workers in the United States who extend their stay, change employers, or change the terms and conditions of their employment.
The Congressionally-set H-2B cap is 66,000 per fiscal year. It is allocated as 33,000 for workers who begin employment in the first half of the fiscal year (October 1 – March 31) and 33,000 (plus any unused numbers from the first half of the fiscal year) for workers who begin employment in the second half of the fiscal year (April 1 – September 30).
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