USCIS says H-2B cap is full for the first half of the 2027 fiscal year

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has received enough petitions to fill the H-2B visa cap for the first half of the 2027 fiscal year, the agency announced on 11 September 2026.

USCIS said 4 September 2026 was the final receipt date for cap-subject petitions in this allocation. "We will reject new cap-subject H-2B petitions received after Sept. 4, 2026, that request an employment start date before April 1, 2027," the agency said.

The H-2B visa covers temporary non-agricultural work, much of it seasonal.

How the cap works

Congress sets the annual H-2B limit at 66,000 visas, split evenly across the fiscal year: 33,000 for jobs starting between 1 October and 31 March, and 33,000 for jobs starting between 1 April and 30 September. Unused numbers from the first half can be carried into the second half of the same fiscal year, but unused numbers do not carry over from one fiscal year to the next.

According to the agency's cap count page, the second-half allocation of 33,000 remained available as of 11 September 2026.

Who is not counted against the cap

USCIS lists several categories that are exempt. Workers already counted against the cap in the same fiscal year are not counted again, provided the employer names them and notes that status. Petitions to extend an existing H-2B worker's stay, change their employer, or amend the terms of their employment are also outside the cap, as are H-4 applications from the spouses and children of H-2B workers.

Fish roe processors, fish roe technicians and supervisors of fish roe processing are exempt, and so are workers performing labour or services in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, which the agency says are exempt until 31 December 2029.

This report draws on announcements published by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.