Bad news for H-2B visa applicants! USCIS issues new alert; India not affected

The USCIS announced on Wednesday that it has received enough petitions to reach the cap for the additional 19,000 H-2B visas

Published on: Apr 24, 2025, 07:11:31 IST

By Yash Nitish Bajaj

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The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Wednesday that it has received enough petitions to reach the cap for the additional 19,000 H-2B visas made available for returning workers for the early second half of fiscal year 2025. However, the agency added that 20,000 visas are set aside for nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, and Costa Rica. These countries are exempt from the returning working requirement.

The USCIS said that it has reached the cap for additional H-2B visas for FY 2025 (Unsplash)

“As of April 18, 2025, USCIS has received enough petitions to reach the additional 19,000 H-2B visas made available for returning workers for the early second half of FY 2025 with start dates from April 1 to May 14, 2025, under the FY 2025 H-2B supplemental cap temporary final rule,” the USCIS said its notification on Wednesday.

The immigration service said that it will reject any cap-subject petitions received after April 18.

Indians unaffected

However, Indians are unaffected as they do not qualify for the H-2B visa, which allows foreign workers to make a temporary move to the US to perform ‘non-agricultural services or labor on a one-time, seasonal, peak load, or intermittent basis’.

According to the USCIS, US businesses that are suffering ‘irreparable harm or will suffer impending irreparable harm (permanent and severe financial loss) if they cannot employ all the H-2B workers that they request on their Form I-129 petition may file H-2B petitions under this temporary increase’.

“In addition, employers may only request workers who have been issued an H-2B visa or otherwise granted H-2B status in FY 2022, 2023, or 2024, unless they are petitioning for workers under the 20,000 country-specific allocation,” the website states.

Currently, the H-2B cap is set at 66,000 per fiscal year, which is equally divided in half for the first half (October 1 - March 31) and second half (April 1 - September 30)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Yash Nitish Bajaj
Yash Bajaj is a Chief Content Producer with a strong foundation in US coverage, digital strategy, and audience-focused storytelling. As part of the US Desk at Hindustan Times, he covers a wide range of topics - from American politics to sports (NFL, NBA, derbies, MLB and more). Before joining Hindustan Times, Yash served as Deputy News Editor at Times Now, where he oversaw international coverage and led a team of six. In this role, he significantly expanded global traffic through strategic planning, SEO-driven content execution, and meticulous trend tracking across platforms. He is experienced in managing high-pressure breaking-news shifts, coordinating live coverage, and building newsroom systems that improve speed, accuracy, and reach. Prior to Times Now, Yash held a position at Opoyi, where he headed the Sports and US news team. He developed broad editorial strategies, guided reporters across multiple beats, and played a key role in recruiting and training new talent. His responsibilities also extended to social media management and experimenting with innovative content formats. A passionate NFL fan, Yash is a die-hard supporter of the Cincinnati Bengals and has followed Joe Burrow closely since his college days at LSU. Whether breaking down top players' latest performance, analyzing team performances, or tracking roster moves, he brings the same dedication and sharp storytelling to his sports coverage as he does to American politics and breaking news. When he’s not writing, Yash can often be found watching games or debating the latest NFL storylines with fellow fans. Yash holds a Bachelor of Mass Media (Journalism) from HR College, Mumbai University. His interests extend well beyond the newsroom: he is an enthusiastic explorer of AI tools, a movie buff with an ever-growing watchlist, and someone who enjoys unraveling conspiracy theories for fun.Read More

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