U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Thursday that it had received enough petitions to reach the H-2B cap for returning workers with start dates from April 1 to May 14, 2024.

Key Points:

• The 19,000 visas for returning workers were available under a temporary final rule published last fall. April 17 was the final receipt date for petitioners requesting visas under the allocation for returning workers with start dates in the first part of the second half of the fiscal year.
• On April 22, USCIS will begin accepting petitions for workers with start dates in the late second half of FY 2024, i.e., from May 15 to Sept. 30. The 5,000 visas made available under this allocation are limited to returning workers who were issued H-2B visas or held H-2B status in fiscal years 2021, 2022 or 2023, regardless of country of nationality.
• USCIS is also still accepting petitions under the supplemental allotment for first-time and returning H-2B workers from Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti and Honduras.

BAL Analysis: The H-2B program continues to grow in popularity.