The Departments of Labor (DOL) and Homeland Security (DHS) said they will make an additional 35,000 H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas available for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026, on top of the congressionally mandated 66,000 H-2B visas that are available each fiscal year.
The agencies said they will focus these additional H-2B visas on U.S. businesses with seasonal or temporary workforce needs in “critical infrastructure sectors of the U.S. economy, such as seafood, forestry, hospitality and tourism, transportation, and manufacturing.” DOL and DHS said they plan to release these additional H-2B visas, including any eligibility criteria and filing requirements, “in the coming weeks through a temporary final rule published in the Federal Register.”
