U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has received enough petitions to reach the cap for the additional 20,716 H-2B visas made available for returning workers for the first half of fiscal year 2024 with start dates on or before March 31, 2024, under the H-2B supplemental cap temporary final rule (FY 2024 TFR). Jan.9, 2024, was the final receipt date for petitions requesting supplemental H-2B visas under the FY 2024 first-half returning worker allocation.
USCIS is still accepting petitions for H-2B nonimmigrant workers with start dates on or before March 31, 2024, for the additional 20,000 visas allotted for nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, and Costa Rica (country-specific allocation), as well as those who are exempt from the congressionally mandated cap.
The FY 2024 TFR was published on Nov. 17, 2023, with an immediate effective date. USCIS immediately began accepting H-2B petitions with start dates on or before March 31, 2024, for the 20,716 returning worker allocation for the first half of FY2024, and the 20,000 allocation for nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, and Costa Rica who are exempt from the returning worker requirement.
Petitioners with start dates on or before March 31, 2024, whose workers were not accepted for the 20,716 returning worker allocation are encouraged to file under the country-specific allocation while visas remain available. As of Jan. 12, 2024, USCIS has received petitions requesting 4,500 workers under the 20,000 visas set aside for nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, and Costa Rica.
