H-2 Visa News

WASHINGTON— U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Department of Justice today announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) (PDF, 2.00 MB) that expands their collaboration to better detect and eliminate fraud, abuse, and discrimination by employers bringing foreign visa workers to the United States. This new effort improves the way the agencies share information, collaborate on cases, and train each other’s investigators.

WASHINGTON— On Feb. 21, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began receiving H-2B cap-subject petitions for the second half of fiscal year 2018.

During the first five business days USCIS received approximately 2,700 H-2B cap-subject petitions requesting approximately 47,000 workers, which is more than the number of H-2B visas available. As a result, USCIS, in accordance with applicable regulations, conducted a lottery on Feb. 28 to randomly select enough petitions to meet the cap. 

The U.S. Department of Labor announced it will not begin releasing H-2B temporary labor certifications until Feb.

Beginning Jan. 22, 2018, USCIS will email notifications of receipt and approval to H-2A (temporary agricultural worker) petitioners who file Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker. Also starting today, USCIS will use pre-paid mailers provided by H-2A petitioners to send requests for evidence (RFE) if issued in a case.

These process changes apply only to H-2A petitions due to their highly time-sensitive nature. 

Email Notifications

USCIS and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in consultation with the Department of State, have published the list of countries whose nationals are eligible to receive H-2A and H‑2B visas in 2018. The notice listing the eligible countries was published on Jan. 18, 2018, in the Federal Register.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has reached the congressionally mandated H-2B cap for the first half of fiscal year 2018.

Dec. 15, 2017, was the final receipt date for new H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date before April 1, 2018. USCIS will reject new cap-subject H-2B petitions received after Dec. 15 that request an employment start date before April 1, 2018.

USCIS continues to accept H-2B petitions that are exempt from the congressionally mandated cap. This includes the following types of petitions:

The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) has published Round 13 of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) related to H-2A Applications for Temporary Employment Certification under the 2010 Rule.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has posted additional data about the agency’s employment-based visa programs on its website. This new information reflects USCIS’ commitment to transparency in carrying out President Trump’s Buy American and Hire American Executive Order.

Datasets now available on the webpage include:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is no longer accepting petitions from U. S. employers seeking to hire temporary nonagricultural workers under the one-time increase to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 H-2B cap announced in July.

For the first time, in May, Congress delegated its authority to the Secretary of Homeland Security to increase the number of temporary nonagricultural work visas available to U.S. employers through FY 2017.

USCIS has received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the congressionally mandated H‑2B cap for fiscal year (FY) 2017. March 13, 2017 was the final receipt date for new H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date before October 1, 2017.

What Happens After Reaching the Cap