USCIS Announces H-2B Cap Reached for Second Half of FY2020
On March 3, 2020, OFLC issued the following update on its website:
OFLC has issued 3,642 H-2B Temporary Labor Certifications covering 63,797 worker positions. Filers who have received a temporary labor certification may file a petition with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). OFLC will continue to process H-2B applications, regardless of any H-2B visa cap administered by USCIS.
USCIS announced that it has received enough petitions to meet the H-2B cap for the second half of FY2020. The final receipt date for new cap-subject H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date before October 1, 2020, was February 18, 2020. USCIS will reject new petitions received after February 18, 2020, that request an employment start date before October 1.
Since, on February 18, the number of beneficiaries for whom USCIS received petitions surpassed the total number of remaining H-2B visas available, on February 20, USCIS conducted the selection process to randomly select petitions from those received on February 18. USCIS assigned all selected petitions a receipt date and began premium processing services.
USCIS continues to accept H-2B petitions that are exempt from the cap.