The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that the cap for the additional 19,000 H-2B visas designated for returning workers during the early second half of fiscal year (FY) 2024 has been met. These visas, allocated under the H-2B supplemental cap temporary final rule (FY 2024 TFR), were available for employment start dates between April 1 and May 14, 2024. April 17, 2024, marked the final receipt date for petitions seeking these supplemental visas.
However, USCIS continues to accept petitions for H-2B nonimmigrant workers under the additional 20,000 visas reserved for nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, and Costa Rica. These visas are exempt from the returning worker requirement and the congressionally mandated cap.
Furthermore, starting April 22, 2024, USCIS will commence accepting petitions for workers for the late second half of FY 2024, with employment start dates spanning from May 15 to Sept. 30, 2024. This allocation of 5,000 visas is exclusively available to returning workers who held H-2B visas or status in fiscal years 2021, 2022, or 2023, irrespective of their nationality.
For more detailed information regarding the FY 2024 supplemental visas, stakeholders are encouraged to visit the Temporary Increase in H-2B Nonimmigrant Visas for FY 2024 page on the USCIS website.
Source: USCIS
