Surge in H-2B Petitions Possible for Second Half of FY 2018, USCIS Announces

Following the Department of Labor’s recent announcement that it will not begin releasing H-2B temporary labor certifications until February 20, 2018, due to an unprecedented number of applications, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it may receive more H-2B nonimmigrant petitions than there are H-2B visas available in the second half of fiscal year 2018.

USCIS said it is “maintaining a flexible approach to this issue,” which may include randomly selecting petitions received on the final receipt date “to ensure that we allocate H-2B visas fairly and do not exceed the cap.” USCIS said more information would be forthcoming.

Related Links:

• The USCIS announcement.
• Information on the cap count for H-2B nonimmigrants.