Employers May File H-2B Petitions for FY 2023 Late Second Half Returning Workers

Starting April 13, 2023, USCIS will begin accepting petitions for workers for the late second half of fiscal year (FY) 2023, requesting employment start dates from May 15, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2023 under the H-2B supplemental cap temporary final rule. The 10,000 visas made available under this allocation are limited to returning workers who were issued H-2B visas or held H-2B status in fiscal years 2020, 2021, or 2022, regardless of country of nationality. These supplemental visas are available only to U.S. businesses that are suffering irreparable harm or will suffer impending irreparable harm without the ability to employ all the H-2B workers requested in their petition, as attested by the employer on a new attestation form.

>On Dec. 15, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) jointly published a temporary final rule increasing the numerical limit (or cap) on H-2B nonimmigrant visas by up to 64,716 additional visas for all of FY 2023. Of the 64,716 additional visas, 44,716 are available only for returning workers (workers who received an H-2B visa or were otherwise granted H-2B status in one of the last three fiscal years).

The remaining 20,000 visas are set aside for nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras (collectively called Northern Central American countries) and Haiti, who are exempt from the returning worker requirement. As of April 10, 2023, USCIS has received petitions requesting 11,537 workers under the 20,000 visas set aside for nationals of Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. USCIS is continuing to accept H-2B petitions under this allocation.

Petitions requesting supplemental allocations under this rule must be filed at the California Service Center. Petitions filed under the supplemental allocations in this rule at any location other than the California Service Center will be rejected and the filing fees will be returned.

Additional information on the FY 2023 supplemental visas is available on the Temporary Increase in H-2B Nonimmigrant Visas for FY 2023 page.