U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that as of January 7, 2025, the additional returning H-2B worker allotment of 20,716 visas for the first half of fiscal year (FY) 2025 (October 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025) has been exhausted.

Quick Hits

• As part of a joint temporary final rule issued on December 2, 2024, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Labor increased the number of available H-2B visas from 66,000 to 130,716 for FY 2025.
• Supplemental H-2B visas have been allocated for the early second half of FY 2025 and the late second half of FY 2025.

Available H-2B Visas

For the early second half of FY 2025 (April 1 to May 14), 19,000 visas will be available to returning workers. Petitions filed for this period must request employment start dates between April 1, 2025, and May 14, 2025.

For the late second half of FY 2024 (May 15 to September 30), 5,000 visas will be available to returning workers. Petitions filed during this period must request employment start dates between May 15, 2025, and September 30, 2025.

In addition, 20,000 visas are reserved for nationals of Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras for the entirety of FY 2025.

Ogletree Deakins’ Immigration Practice Group will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the Immigration blog as additional information becomes available.