2026 H-2B Summer Season Onboarding

It’s that time of year again!  Despite the massive changes that we’re seeing in this administration related to immigration, the H-2B temporary worker program has largely been unaffected at this point.  For employers who wish to hire H-2B temporary workers for the summer of 2026, now is the time to begin the process if you have not already.

For those who have used the program before, the early start date may make a bit more sense, but for those new to the program, the reason that one must start the process in the Fall prior to the summer start date is due to a couple of reasons.  First, there are a limited number of H-2B visas available for the summer—33,000 assuming no additions are granted by Congress.  Those visas go fast, which means that we need to be filing on the first day that we are able to (January 1^st) in order to have a shot at obtaining visas for the year.  Second is that there are mandatory preparatory steps that need to be accomplished, including a filing with the U.S. Department of Labor, prior to our filing on January 1^st.  Those can take upwards of two months to be processed, so an application process that begins in November may not be ready to be filed on January 1^st, which all but guarantees that an employer would not be able to obtain visas for the summer.

If you are interested in starting the process, or going through the process again and have not heard from us directly, please contact our office as soon as possible so that we can begin the filings.