The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it has received enough petitions to meet the H-2B cap for the second half of fiscal year 2025.
Through a statement, the USCIS has said that the filling dates for additional H-2B visas for the rest of the fiscal year 2025 are now available, VisaGuide.World reports.
USCIS received enough petitions to meet the congressionally established H-2B cap for the second half of FY 2025.
The final receipt date for new cap-subject H-2B worker petitions was March 5, 2025, according to USCIS.
March 5, 2025, was the final receipt date for new cap-subject H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date on or after April 1, 2025, and before Oct. 1, 2025. We will reject new cap-subject H-2B petitions received after March 5, 2025, that request an employment start date on or after April 1, 2025, and before Oct. 1, 2025.
The H-2B visa program of the United States aims to bring in temporary workers to work in non-agricultural fields. The visa permits workers from other territories to work in the US temporarily for a specific period.
The H-2B cap at present is 66,000 per fiscal year, with a total of 33,000 for workers who start employment from October 1 to March 31, and 33,000 for those who start their employment in the second half of the fiscal year or more specifically from April 1 to September 30.
Additional 64,716 H-2B Visas for FY 2025
In November last year, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that an additional 64,712 H-2B visas would be available for fiscal year 2025. These visas will be additional to the congressionally mandated 66,000 H-2B visas that are available each year.
The decision was announced by the then-Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro N. Mayorkas, who emphasized that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is committed to further increasing the US Economy.
Mayorkas said that by maximizing the use of the H-2B visa program, DHS is helping to ensure that labor needs of businesses in America are met, maintaining prices down for consumers while strengthening worker protections and deterring irregular migration to the US.
In January this year, the USCIC announced that it received enough petitions in order to reach the cap for an additional 20,716 visas made eligible for returning workers for the first half of FY 2025 with start dates before March 31, 2025, in line with the H-2B supplemental cap temporary final rule for FY 2025.