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.
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