News: USCIS H-2B Cap Reached for Second Half of FY2020

<h1> <div id=”ct-title”> H-2B Cap Reached for Second Half of FY2020 </div> </h1> <div id=”main-body”> <div> <div> <div> <p> U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has received enough petitions to meet the congressionally mandated <a href=”https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-workers/h-2b-non-agricultural-workers/cap-count-h-2b-nonimmigrants” > H-2B cap </a> for the second half of fiscal year 2020. Feb. 18, 2020, was the final receipt date for new cap-subject H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date before Oct. 1, 2020. USCIS will reject new cap-subject H-2B petitions received after Feb. 18 that request an employment start date before Oct. 1. </p> <p> On Feb. 18, the number of beneficiaries for whom USCIS received petitions surpassed the total number of remaining H-2B visas available for the H-2B cap for the second half of FY 2020. In accordance with regulations, USCIS determined it was necessary to use a computer-generated selection process intended to ensure the fair and orderly allocation of H-2B visa cap numbers available, without exceeding the FY 2020 cap. </p> <p> On Feb. 20, USCIS conducted the selection process to randomly select petitions from those received on Feb. 18. Upon completion of this random selection process, USCIS assigned all selected petitions a receipt date and began premium processing services. The H-2B cap for the second half of FY 2020 was met on Feb. 18, which was approximately the same time as when the H-2B cap for the second half of FY 2019 (Feb. 19, 2019) was met. </p> <p> USCIS continues to accept H-2B petitions that are exempt from the congressionally mandated cap. This includes petitions for: </p> <ul> <li> Current H-2B workers in the United States who wish to extend their stay and, if applicable, change the terms of their employment or change their employers; </li> <li> Fish roe processors, fish roe technicians and/or supervisors of fish roe processing; and </li> <li> Workers performing labor or services in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands and/or Guam from Nov. 28, 2009, until Dec. 31, 2029. </li> </ul> <p> U.S. businesses use the <a href=”https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-workers/h-2b-temporary-non-agricultural-workers” > H-2B program </a> to employ foreign workers for temporary nonagricultural jobs. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended, Congress has set the H-2B cap at 66,000 per fiscal year, with 33,000 for workers who begin employment in the first half of the fiscal year (Oct. 1 – March 31) and 33,000 for workers who begin employment in the second half of the fiscal year (April 1 – Sept. 30), plus any unused numbers from the first half of the fiscal year, if any. Unused H-2B numbers from one fiscal year do not carry over into the next fiscal year. </p> </div> </div> </div> </div>
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