Quick Hits
- Each fiscal year (FY), 66,000 H-2B visas are available to employers for nonagricultural temporary workers. Thirty-three thousand visas are available for start dates between October 1 and March 31, and 33,000 visas are available for start dates between April 1 and September 30.
- Beginning in FY 2020, OFLC started utilizing a randomized selection process designed to establish the order in which H-2B applications are assigned to analysts for review.
- The assignment process is based on when employers submit their applications and the start dates they request, with OFLC first processing those applications with the earliest start dates.
- Group A will always include the number of H-2B applications containing a sufficient amount of worker positions to reach the visa cap (33,000).
H-2B Assignment Groups
OFLC has released the assignment groups for H-2B applications with start dates of October 1, 2024. The randomization process was completed on July 6, 2024, and Group A applications were assigned to analysts for review. The applications in Group A contain sufficient positions to reach the semiannual H-2B cap of 33,000. Only one additional assignment group was created for the remaining applications and positions.
Ogletree Deakins’ Immigration Practice Group will continue to monitor these and other policy developments and will provide updates on the Immigration blog as additional information becomes available.
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