The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the cap for the H-2B non-agricultural temporary worker program for the first half of FY 2020 was met on November 15, 2019.   This means that USCIS received 33,000 H-2B petitions for workers who begin employment in the first half of the fiscal year (Oct. 1 - March 31).  33,000 H-2B petitions are still available for the second half of the fiscal year (April 1 – Sept. 30).  The total H-2B cap for fiscal year 2020 is 66,000.

Once the H-2B cap is reached for a given fiscal year or half-year period, USCIS may only accept petitions seeking workers for that fiscal year or half-year period who are exempt or not subject to the H-2B cap.  USCIS also continues to accept H-2B petitions that are exempt from the cap, including:

• Current H-2B workers in the U.S. petitioning to extend their stay and, if applicable, change the terms of their employment or change their employers;
• Fish roe processors, fish roe technicians, and/or supervisors of fish roe processing; and
• Workers performing labor or services in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands and/or Guam from Nov. 28, 2009, until Dec. 31, 2029.