Additional H-2B Visas to be Available in 2024

There is a general cap for H-2B visas at 66,000 visas per fiscal year, divided into 33,000 visas for H-2B employees starting on April 1^st and an additional 33,000  H-2B employees starting on October 1^st. With many employer petitioners vying for these visas, they can all be claimed very quickly.

Generally, Congress agrees to release more visas to satiate the demand, however there are typically some strings attached to the additional visas. Similar to last year, Congress has announced that they expect to release an additional 64,716 H-2B visas for fiscal year 2024, nearly doubling the amount of available visas.[1] However, as with previous years, there are expected additional requirements to claim these additional visas:

• 20,000 of the visas will be allocated to workers from Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras. This is an increase in eligible countries from last year, which was reserved to the Northern Triangle countries and Haiti.
• The remaining 44,716 visas will be available only to returning H-2B workers who received their H-2B visa or were granted H-2B status during one of the last three fiscal years.

Details may change once the temporary final rule is published, including additional requirements that the employer demonstrate financial hardship without access to the supplemental H-2B visas.  We’ll provide you with additional information as it becomes available.