USCIS Hits Cap for Second H-2B Visa Allocation for Returning Workers in 2026

(UNITED STATES) — USCIS announced on April 29, 2026 that it had reached the cap for the second allocation of supplemental H-2B visas for returning workers in fiscal year 2026, closing that tranche after receiving enough petitions for jobs scheduled to begin in April.

The second allocation made 27,736 additional visas available for petitions with employment start dates from April 1 through April 30, 2026. USCIS limited those visas to returning workers, meaning people who had already been counted against the H-2B cap in fiscal years 2023, 2024, or 2025.

USCIS set April 21, 2026 as the final receipt date for petitions in that allocation. The agency said it will reject cap-subject H-2B petitions, filed on Form I-129, that arrived after April 21, 2026 for that round.

The cap announcement fits into a broader expansion approved earlier this year. The Departments of Homeland Security and Labor issued a temporary final rule on January 30, 2026, authorizing up to 64,716 supplemental H-2B visas beyond the standard annual cap of 66,000.

Officials divided those supplemental visas into three allocations tied to employment start dates. The first set aside 18,490 visas for jobs beginning from January through March 2026 and limited them to returning workers.

A second set aside 27,736 visas for April 2026 start dates and carried the same returning-worker restriction. A third allocation reserves 18,490 visas for start dates from May 1 through September 30, 2026 and is open to all eligible workers, while also absorbing any unused visas from the first two tranches.

That structure matters for employers that missed the April filing window. As of May 12, 2026, USCIS says employers may file petitions for the third allocation starting April 24, 2026 and no later than September 15, 2026.

Those third-allocation petitions must request employment start dates between May 1 and September 30, 2026. Unused visas from the first and second allocations carry over into that final pool, giving employers another chance to secure workers for the summer season and early fall.

Employers seeking visas from the third tranche must submit Form I-129 with a Department of Labor-approved temporary labor certification. USCIS also says petitioners should include evidence of returning worker status if applicable, although that status is not required for the third allocation.

The second allocation, by contrast, is closed. Petitions received after April 21, 2026 for that returning-worker allotment are rejected rather than held for later consideration under the same tranche.

The H-2B program covers temporary nonagricultural work, and the supplemental rule runs through September 30, 2026. Federal officials framed the added visas as a response to seasonal and temporary labor shortages in sectors that often depend on short-term hiring.

Industries named in the rule include hospitality, landscaping and seafood processing. Those businesses often hire around fixed operating windows, making start-date timing central to whether an approved petition still matches the employer’s labor need.

The first two allocations were reserved for returning workers, a group Congress and federal agencies have repeatedly treated as easier to place because those workers have already participated in the program. In this year’s supplemental structure, that restriction applied to jobs beginning in the first four months covered by the extra visas, then dropped away for the final tranche.

That shift changes the filing posture for employers now seeking workers for the rest of the fiscal year. Companies no longer need returning-worker status to access the third allocation, though any unused numbers from the earlier pools can still flow into it.

USCIS has also directed employers to monitor the agency’s H-2B cap status page for updates as petitions continue to arrive for the remaining allocation. In practice, that page becomes the running measure of whether space remains under the supplemental limit for jobs starting between May and the end of September.

The timing of the second allocation shows how quickly demand can absorb an added supply of visas. USCIS announced on April 29, 2026 that it had enough petitions to meet the cap, even though the final receipt date for that pool was April 21, 2026.

Under the fiscal year 2026 arrangement, employers had access to a standard annual ceiling of 66,000 H-2B visas before the administration added the supplemental numbers. The temporary final rule increased the total possible supply by up to 64,716, nearly matching the baseline cap with an additional, date-specific set of visas.

That expanded supply did not create one single filing window. Federal agencies split the supplemental visas into separate tranches, each tied to a specific set of employment start dates, and the second tranche is now filled.

Returning workers played a central role in that design. The first allocation covered January through March 2026 start dates, the second covered April 2026 start dates, and both were restricted to workers already counted under the cap in one of the previous three fiscal years.

The final allocation works differently. It covers start dates from May 1 through September 30, 2026, accepts petitions until September 15, 2026, and does not impose the same returning-worker requirement.

Employers that plan to file in that window still face documentary requirements. USCIS says the petition must include a valid temporary labor certification approved by the Department of Labor, the document that supports the employer’s stated need for temporary workers.

The rule’s structure also means filing date and requested start date must line up. A petition aimed at the third allocation has to specify work beginning during the May 1 through September 30, 2026 period, not an April start date that would have belonged to the now-closed second allocation.

Federal officials said the temporary expansion is aimed at acute labor needs across seasonal industries. Hospitality, landscaping and seafood processing were singled out as sectors likely to rely on the added capacity before the rule expires at the end of the fiscal year on September 30, 2026.

With the April returning-worker pool exhausted, the remaining route under the supplemental rule is the third allocation, where employers can continue filing with USCIS on Form I-129 for qualifying start dates through mid-September and compete for the 18,490 visas set aside there, plus any numbers left over from the earlier rounds.