U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on March 16, 2017, that it has received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the congressionally mandated H-2B cap for fiscal year 2017. March 13, 2017, was the final receipt date for new H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date before October 1, 2017. The H-2B visa category is for temporary non-agricultural workers.

Except as noted below, USCIS said it will reject new H-2B petitions received after March 13 that request an employment start date before October 1, 2017. USCIS will continue to accept H-2B petitions that are exempt from the congressionally mandated cap. This includes the following types of petitions:

  • Current H-2B workers in the U.S. petitioning to extend their stay and, if applicable, change the terms of their employment or change their employers;
  • Fish roe processors, fish roe technicians, and/or supervisors of fish roe processing; and
  • Workers performing labor or services from November 28, 2009, until December 31, 2019, in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and/or Guam.

The USCIS announcement is at https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-reaches-h-2b-cap-fiscal-year-2017.