USCIS has reached the cap for the additional supplemental H-2B visas for 2022 Fiscal Year (FY). USCIS recently announced that it has received enough petitions to reach the cap for the additional 23,500 visas made available for returning workers only.  

Under the H-2B program, a U.S. business may bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary nonagricultural jobs. Generally, a US business must show that it is hiring foreign nationals under H-2B for situations that are a one-time occurrence or arising out of a seasonal need.

In May 2022, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Labor had increased the available cap on H-2B nonimmigrant visas by up to 35,000 for FY 2022 for positions with start dates on or after April 31, 2022, through Sept. 30, 2022. These supplemental visas are available only to U.S. employers who can show that they will suffer irreparable harm if they cannot employ additional H-2B workers.  

Among the additional supplemental H-2B visas available, 23,500 were for workers who received an H-2B visa or were granted H-2B status during one of the last three fiscal years. The remaining 11,500 visas are reserved for nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Haiti, regardless of whether they are returning workers. The semiannual cap of 33,000 visas for the second half of FY 2022 was already reached on Feb. 25, 2022.

Within the first five business days, USCIS received petitions for more beneficiaries than the additional 23,500 visas made available for H-2B returning workers. A computer-generated lottery randomly selected petitions for further processing. 

USCIS continues to accept H-2B petitions for nationals from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Haiti, as well as those that are exempt from the congressionally mandated cap (which includes current H-2B workers in the United States petitioning to extend their stay and, if applicable, change the terms of their employment or change their employers). 

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