USCIS has received enough petitions to reach the cap for the additional 20,716 H-2B visas made available for returning workers for the first half of fiscal year 2025 with start dates on or before March 31, 2025, under the H-2B supplemental cap temporary final rule (FY 2025 TFR). January 7, 2025, was the final receipt date for petitions requesting supplemental H-2B visas under the FY 2025 first half returning worker allocation.
USCIS is still accepting petitions for H-2B nonimmigrant workers with start dates on or before March 31, 2025, for the additional 20,000 visas allotted for nationals of Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras (country-specific allocation), as well as those who are exempt from the congressionally mandated cap.
Petitioners with start dates on or before March 31, 2025, whose workers were not accepted for the 20,716 returning worker allocation are encouraged to file under the country-specific allocation while visas remain available.