March 22, 2007

H-2B Visa Program Closed for Fiscal Year

The H-2B visa program for employers seeking temporary or seasonal low skilled workers has closed for the fiscal year. The program is capped at 66,000 visas per fiscal year.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has reached the H-2B cap for the second half of fiscal year 2007 as they have received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the congressionally mandated H-2B cap for the final six months of the fiscal year (which begins October 1st of every year and ends on September 30th).

USCIS notified the public that March 16,2007 is the "final receipt date" for new H-2B worker petitions requesting employment start dates prior to October 1, 2007. The "final receipt date" is the date on which CIS determines that it has received enough cap-subject petitions to reach the limit of 33,000 H-2B workers for the second half of FY 2007.

Employers should be aware that USCIS will reject petitions for new H-2B workers seeking employment start dates prior to October 1, 2007 that arrive after March 16, 2007. However, that does not mean all petitions will be rejected as petitions for both current and returning H-2B workers do not count toward the congressionally mandated bi-annual H-2B cap and will therefore be considered.

USCIS will continue to process the following petitions:

• Extension of status of a current H-2B worker in the United States;
   
• To change the terms of employment for current H-2B workers and extend their status in the United States
   
• To allow current H-2B workers to change or add employers and extend their status in the United States;
   
• To request eligible H-2B “returning workers.”

In order to qualify as a "returning worker", the worker must have counted against the H-2B numerical cap between October 1, 2003 and September 30, 2006. Any worker not certified as a "returning worker" is subject to the numerical limitations for the relevant fiscal year.