On March 31, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it had received enough petitions to reach the cap for the additional 16,500 H-2B visas made available for returning workers for the early second half of FY23 with start dates from April 1, 2023 to May 14, 2023, under the FY 2023 H-2B supplemental visa temporary final rule.

Some LeadingAge aging services providers consider H-2B visas a means to employ certain workers for time-limited positions. USCIS recently began accepting H-2B petitions under the temporary final rule, which increased the cap by up to 64,716 additional H-2B nonimmigrant visas for FY23. Of the 64,716 additional visas, 44,716 were available only for returning workers. The remaining 20,000 visas are set aside for nationals of Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras who are exempt from the returning worker requirement.

Petitioners whose workers were not accepted for the returning-worker allotment are encouraged to file under the Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras allotment while visas remain available. As of March 30, USCIS received petitions requesting 9,791 workers under the 20,000 visas set aside for nationals of Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

Starting on April 13, USCIS will begin accepting petitions for workers for the late second half of FY23, requesting employment start dates from May 15 to September 30. The 10,000 visas made available under this allocation are limited to returning workers who were issued H-2B visas or held H-2B status in fiscal years 2020, 2021, or 2022, regardless of country of nationality. Additional information on the FY23 supplemental visas is available on the Temporary Increase in H-2B Nonimmigrant Visas for FY 2023 page.

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