H-2B visa quota exhausted for the first half of fiscal year 2024, what now?

Highlights: In the first half of fiscal year 2024, the H2B visa quota will be exhausted

• The US immigration services have received a petition to increase the visas to 20,716 for returning workers in 2024.
• Jan 9, 2024, was the final reception date for requesting a petition for H2B visas under FY 2024.
• An additional 20,000 visas were allotted to the country-specific areas.
• The Fiscal Year 2024 for TFR was published on Nov 17.

 

*Want to work in U.S? Talk to Y-Axis for complete guidance.

 

Details of returning workers for FY 2024:

US citizenship and immigration services received enough petitions to increase the cap to 20,716 returning workers in 2024. The US government will accept petitions for H-2B non-immigrant workers on March 31, 2024. An additional 20,000 visas were allotted to specific areas such as:

 

• El Salvador
• Guatemala
• Honduras
• Haiti
• Colombia
• Ecuador
• Costa Rica  

 

Including those countries that are exempt from mandatory government caps.

The fiscal year of 2024 TFR was published on November 17, 2023, after the immediate effect date. USCIS immediately started accepting H-2B petitions till March 31, 2024. This petition is for 20,716 returning workers to be allocated in the first half of the fiscal year 2024—another half for 20,000 allocations for nationals for workers exempt from the returning worker requirement.

 

This petition will help file 20,716 returning worker visas exempted from country-specific allocation. On January 12, 2024, USCIS received a petition for 4,500 workers under the 20,000 visas set aside for nationals from exempted countries.

 

Eligibility criteria for H2B visa cap for FY 2024:

• Meet all the existing H2B visa eligibility requirements.
• File Form I–129 for non-immigrant workers correctly with USCIS at Texas service centre.
• Submit an attested affirmation that the employer is suffering irreparable harm or will suffer without the ability to employ all the H–2B workers.
• Providing the details of the writer's statement regarding the harm.

 

*Looking for jobs in US? Search through Y-Axis job Search Services to find the right one for yourself.

 

For recent Immigration updates do check out: Y-Axis Overseas Immigration news

Web Story:  H-2B visa quota exhausted for the first half of fiscal year 2024, what now?