DHS and DOL add 64,716 H-2B visas for FY2023

Policy effect

DHS and DOL issued a temporary final rule authorizing up to 64,716 supplemental H-2B visas for FY2023, allocated across returning-worker and country-specific pools.

Conditions and exceptions

Validated condition or limit: DHS and DOL issued a temporary final rule authorizing up to 64,716 supplemental H-2B visas for FY2023, allocated across returning-worker and country-specific pools.

Official source excerpt

Quoted verbatim from the official source below. Ellipses indicate omitted text.

Homeland Security, following consultation with the Secretary of Labor, is authorizing the release of an additional 64,716 H-2B visas for FY 2023, subject to certain conditions. The 64,716 visas are divided into the following allocations: For the first half of FY 2023: 18,216 immediately available visas limited to returning workers, in other words, those workers who were issued H-2B visas or held H-2B status in fiscal years 2020, 2021, or 2022, regardless of country of nationality. The-se petitions must request employment start dates on or before March 31, 2023; For the early second half of FY 2023 … before the H-2B petition is approved by USCIS. DHS has determined that this temporary final rule clearly fits within categorical exclusion A3(d) because it interprets or amends a regulation without changing its environmental effect. The amendments to 8 CFR part 214 would authorize up to an additional 64,716 visas for noncitizens who may receive H-2B nonimmigrant visas, of which 44,716 are for returning workers (persons issued H-2B visas or were otherwise granted H-2B status in Fiscal Years 2020, 2021, or 2022). The proposed amendments would also facilitate H-2B nonimmigrants to move to new employment …

Review method

Two separate automated exact-claim source reviews

Other United States changes operative in 2022

• 2022-01-28DHS and DOL add 20,000 H-2B visas for first half of FY2022
• 2022-01-30New I-94 spouse codes provide proof of work authorization
• 2022-02-01Eligible evacuated Afghans may reuse overseas medical examinations
• 2022-02-07Longer work-document validity for specified protection and parole categories
• 2022-02-07Restoration of the 30-day processing provision for initial asylum employment authorization
• 2022-02-10Divorce does not end VAWA stepfamily eligibility
• 2022-03-11Mandatory Frivolous Asylum Adjudication Requirements (Matter of M-M-A-)
• 2022-03-15EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (Statutory Regional Center Program Reauthorization)
• 2022-03-28Citizenship-certificate applicants generally provide photos at appointments
• 2022-04-07USCIS Policy Manual Guidance on Interview Waiver Criteria for Family-Based Conditional Permanent Residents (Form I-751)
• 2022-04-19DHS designates Ukraine for Temporary Protected Status
• 2022-04-25Implementation of the Uniting for Ukraine Parole Process
• 2022-05-04DHS temporarily increases automatic EAD extension period to 540 days
• 2022-05-06Deferred-action consideration introduced for visa-blocked SIJs
• 2022-05-20DHS designates Afghanistan for Temporary Protected Status
• 2022-05-31DHS and DOJ issue asylum officer processing interim final rule
• 2022-07-20Policy Manual Guidance on Afghan and Iraqi Special Immigrant Visas Adjudication Transition
• 2022-07-25Permanent Adoption of Reproduced Signature Flexibilities
• 2022-08-02Uncharacterized military discharges treated as honorable for military naturalization
• 2022-08-30Policy Guidance on Special Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Religious Workers (R-1)
• 2022-08-31Codification of policy allowing issuance of diplomatic nonimmigrant visas in the United States to children born in the U.S.
• 2022-09-01Resumption of Cuban Family Reunification Parole (CFRP) Operations
• 2022-09-29Extension of Temporary Waiver of Form I-693 60-Day Rule for Civil Surgeon Signatures
• 2022-10-01President sets FY2023 refugee admissions ceiling at 125,000
• 2022-12-12Naturalization receipts extend green-card evidence for 24 months
• 2022-12-23DHS finalizes public charge inadmissibility rule