U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Washington, D.C., has received enough petitions to reach the cap for the additional 16,500 H-2B visas made available for returning workers for the early second half of fiscal year 2023.
USCIS says that it will reject any petitions received after March 30 that are filed under the early second half of the fiscal year 2023 allocation.
The service, however, says it will continue to accept petitions for H-2B nonimmigrant workers for the additional 20,000 visas allotted for nationals of Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras for the first and second halves of the fiscal year 2023.
“Eligible petitioners whose workers were not accepted for the 16,500 returning-worker allotment for the early second half of FY 2023 are encouraged to file under the Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras allotment while visas remain available,” directs USCIS. “As of March 30, 2023, USCIS has received petitions requesting 9,791 workers under the 20,000 visas set aside for nationals of Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.”
Those interested in taking advantage of the H-2B visa program can apply for visas for the late second half of the fiscal year 2023 beginning April 13. Start dates for workers under that allocation begin May 15, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2023. According to USCIS, the 10,000 visas made available under that 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.
Read more about H-2B.
