January 15th, 2024 at 01:53 am
Over 20k Returning Worker H-2B Visas Announced for the First Half of FY 2024 | H-2B Visa
For the first part of FY 2024, a cap of extra H2B visas for returning workers has been reached. To meet the cap for the additional 20,716 H2B visas made available for returning workers for the first half of the fiscal year 2024 with start dates on or before March 31, 2024, under the H2B supplementary cap, US Citizenship, and Immigration Services has received enough petitions.
Temporary Final Rule FY 2024 (TFR)
The petitions requesting supplemental H2B Petition under the FY 2024 first-half returning worker allocation were to be received by January 2024 at the latest.
For the additional 20,000 visas reserved for nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, and Costa Rica—those who are excluded from the congressionally required cap—USCIS is still accepting petitions for H2B non-immigrant workers with start dates on or before March 31, 2024.
On November 17, 2023, the FY 2024 TFR was released and went into immediate effect. For the 20,716 returning worker allocation for the first half of FY 2024 and the 20,000 allocation for Nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, and Costa Rica who are exempt from the returning worker requirement, USCIS immediately started accepting H2B petitions with start dates on or before March 31, 2024.
While visas are still available, petitioners whose workers were rejected for the 20,716 returning worker allocation and whose start dates are on or before March 31, 2024, are encouraged to file under the country-specific allocation. Currently, USCIS is processing petitions for 4,500 workers out of the 20,000 visas reserved for nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, and Costa Rica as of January 12, 2024.
USCIS H 1B Visa Submission 2024 (Step-by-Step)
USCIS will introduce organizational accounts that will facilitate online communication and the filing of H1B applications. In preparation for the H1B cap season, USCIS today announced the deployment of a series of client experience enhancements. It is anticipated that the actions will improve productivity and facilitate communication between corporations and their legal representatives.
H1B Cap Season
To facilitate non-cap filings for the fiscal year (FY) 2025 H1B Cap Season, USCIS will introduce organizational accounts. Organizational accounts will make it possible for several people to work together on and prepare H1B registrations on behalf of a corporation or other commercial entity, as well as their legal agents.
- Form I-129: petition for a non-immigrant worker
- Associated Form I-997: request for premium processing service
This is a major step forward since USCIS is constantly looking for ways to streamline and improve our procedures. said USCIS director, Ur M. Jaddou. The entire H1B life cycle becomes electronic, from registration (if appropriate) to our final decision and transmission to the Department of State, to launch the organizational accounts and online filing of I-129 H1B petitions.
Forms I-129 and I-97 can be filed online starting in February 2024, when the organizational accounts are expected to be launched by USCIS. These modifications, which streamline the Form I-129 H1B petition procedure, should lessen the number of duplicate H1B registrations and other frequent mistakes. Additionally, USCIS will move form I-129 and I-97 paper filing from service centers to the USCIS lockbox.
Further Details
USCIS will hold two national engagements on organizational accounts on January 23 and 24, as well as several smaller sessions leading up to the H1B registration period, as part of our efforts to increase efficiency by standardizing processes and reducing costs. These events are intended to assist organizations and legal representatives in navigating the application process.
People will be able to ask questions regarding the organizational accounts in advance of FY 2025, the H1B electronic registration procedure, and the start of the online Form I-129 filing process for H1B petitions during these sessions.
Attendance at these events is encouraged by USCIS for everyone involved in the H1B registration and petition filing process. Later this month, invitations to these engagements will be sent out. There will be more information about organizational accounts on the H1B electronic registration process page
H-2B Visa Grants
The procedure of October and April are the two times a year that H-2B visas are granted. Employers must first acquire a Prevailing Wage Determination (PWD) from the Department of Labor (DOL) as part of the procedure. No earlier than ninety days before the employer’s start date of necessity, employers may submit a labor certification application to the DOL.
Following the filing of the labor certification, employers are categorized according to the filing date of the certification. Employers who file their labor certifications first are grouped; the DOL handles group A cases first, then group B and group C.
Employers must first obtain their labor certification from the DOL before they may apply to USCIS. They can secure their spot in line for the restricted number of visas by filing with USCIS and eventually obtaining a receipt notification from USCIS. As the visas are used up by the time applicants may submit, those in groups B or C are likely to have their USCIS submissions denied.
Congress created the H-2B program to assist US firms in supplementing their workforce, but there are many obstacles standing in the way of the program’s success.
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