USCIS Reaches H2B Cap for Second Half of FY-2019

On February 22, 2019, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it received enough H2B petitions to meet the H2B cap for the second half of fiscal year 2019 [PDF version]. February 19, 2019, was the final receipt date for H2B petitions requesting an employment start date before October 1, 2019. Accordingly, the USCIS will reject any new cap-subject H2B petitions requesting an employment start date before October 1, 2019.

The USCIS received petitions for more potential H2B beneficiaries than the total number of remaining available H2B visas for the second half of fiscal year 2019. Accordingly, the USCIS conducted an H2B lottery to select from those petitions enough to meet the fiscal year 2019 H2B cap. The USCIS assigned all H2B petitions selected in the H2B lottery a receipt date of February 22, 2019. The USCIS also began premium process service [see article] for H2B petitions selected in the H2B lottery on that date.

Notwithstanding the USCIS's meeting the H2B cap for the second half of fiscal year 2019, the USCIS will continue to accept H2B petitions that are not subject to the H2B cap. For example, current H2B workers who are petitioning for an extension of stay and (if applicable) a change of the terms of employment or change of employer are not subject to the H2B cap. Certain petitions for fish roe processors, fish roe technicians, and supervisors of fish roe processing are not subject to the H2B cap. Finally, H2B petitions in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam are, under specific rules, not subject to the H2B cap from November 29, 2009, through December 31, 2029.

To learn about which countries are eligible to participate in the H2B program in 2019, please see our full article on the subject [see article].