H-2B Visa Cap Met for First Half of FY 2023

Edited Press Release from NTRA

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Wednesday they have received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated cap on H-2B visas for temporary nonagricultural workers for the first half of fiscal year 2023. USCIS will reject new cap-subject H-2B petitions received after Sept. 12, 2022 that request an employment start date before April 1, 2023. With many in the Thoroughbred industry relying on H-2B visas, we are sharing this for your information.

USCIS will continue to accept H-2B petitions that are exempt from the congressionally mandated cap. This includes petitions for:

• Current H-2B workers in the United States who extend their stay, change employers, or change the terms and conditions of their employment;
• 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.

U.S. businesses use the H-2B program to employ foreign workers for temporary nonagricultural jobs. Currently, Congress has set the H-2B cap at 66,000 per fiscal year, with 33,000 for workers who begin employment in the first half of the fiscal year (Oct. 1-Mar. 31) and 33,000 (plus any unused numbers from the first half of the fiscal year) for workers who begin employment in the second half of the fiscal year (Apr. 1-Sept. 30).

NTRA will continue to advocate before Congress for the passage of permanent solutions to temporary worker issues in the Thoroughbred industry.

For more information, visit the Cap Count for H-2B Non-immigrants page.