USCIS Reopens FY 2015 H-2B Cap for Temporary Nonagricultural Workers

On June 5, 2015, USCIS reopened the congressionally mandated fiscal year (FY) 2015 cap and is accepting petitions requesting new H-2B temporary nonagricultural workers with an employment start date between April 1 and September 30, 2015.

USCIS explained that its role in managing the H-2B cap involves ensuring that enough Form I-129 (Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker) H-2B petitions with a sufficient number of beneficiaries have been approved to fully subscribe the H-2B cap each year. The agency noted that “[i]t can be difficult to estimate in advance how many beneficiaries of an H-2B petition approved by USCIS will actually seek H-2B status or eventually be issued an H-2B visa” by the Department of State (DOS). USCIS said it “strives to reasonably estimate the number of petitions the agency may approve before the annual cap will be reached.”

USCIS said it continues to work in collaboration with DOS to monitor the issuance of H-2B visas. On April 2, 2015, USCIS announced that it had accepted and approved a sufficient number of H-2B petitions to meet the congressionally mandated annual cap of 66,000 H-2B visas. From June 3, 2014, through March 26, 2015, USCIS accepted about 3,900 petitions (about 77,000 beneficiaries) toward the H-2B FY 2015 cap. USCIS initially believed this was sufficient to fully meet the FY 2015 cap. However, USCIS has determined that as of June 5, 2015, DOS received fewer than the expected number of requests for H-2B visas. A recent analysis of DOS H-2B visa issuance and USCIS petition data revealed that the number of actual H-2B visas issued by DOS was substantially less than the number of H-2B beneficiaries seeking consular notification listed on cap-subject H-2B petitions approved by USCIS. In light of this new information, USCIS determined that there were still available H-2B visa numbers remaining for the second half of the FY 2015 cap.

Filing Procedures.

On June 5, 2015, USCIS began accepting additional FY 2015 cap petitions with employment start dates between April 1 and September 30, 2015, and is considering them in the order in which USCIS receives them.

To petition for an FY 2015 H-2B cap number, employers must:

• Submit an I-129 with all required documents, including an approved Temporary Labor Certification (TLC) from the Department of Labor that is valid for the entire employment period stated on the petition.
• Indicate an employment start date between April 1 and September 30, 2015.

USCIS noted that the employment start date listed on the petition must be the same as the employment start date authorized on the TLC unless a petitioner is filing an amended H-2B petition due to the unavailability of originally requested workers as stated on the previously approved TLC. Petitioners may still use TLCs for which the employment start date occurred on or after April 1, 2015, even if the start date occurred during the closure of the FY 2015 H-2B cap. Such TLC, however, must still be otherwise valid, and the employment start date on the petition must match the employment start date authorized on the TLC. Petitions with employment start dates that do not match their TLCs’ employment start dates will be rejected and returned with fees, USCIS said.

USCIS noted that it will consider petitions received on or after October 1, 2015, and/or requesting a start date on or after that date, toward the FY 2016 H-2B cap. These petitions will be subject to all eligibility requirements for FY 2016 H-2B cap filings. USCIS started accepting FY 2016 H-2B cap petitions on June 3, 2015.