DHS and DOL add 64,716 H-2B visas for FY2025

Policy effect

DHS and DOL issued a temporary rule authorizing up to 64,716 supplemental H-2B visas for FY2025 and continuing portability flexibility for certain H-2B workers changing employers.

Conditions and exceptions

Validated condition or limit: DHS and DOL issued a temporary rule authorizing up to 64,716 supplemental H-2B visas for FY2025 and continuing portability flexibility for certain H-2B workers changing employers.

Official source excerpt

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

Congressional Review Act I. Paperwork Reduction Act I. Executive Summary FY 2025 H-2B Supplemental Cap With this temporary final rule (TFR), the Secretary of Homeland Security, following consultation with the Secretary of Labor, is authorizing the release of an additional 64,716 H-2B visas for FY 2025, subject to certain conditions. The 64,716 visas are divided into the following allocations: For the first half of FY 2025: 20,716 immediately available visas limited to ( printed page 95627) returning workers, in other words, those workers who were issued H-2B visas or held H-2B status in fiscal years 2022, … admission. Additionally, petitioners may immediately employ individuals who are beneficiaries of a non-frivolous H-2B petition requesting an extension of the worker's stay that is pending as of January 25, 2025 without waiting for approval of the H-2B petition. To be eligible for portability, employers must have received an approved TLC demonstrating that they have completed a test of the U.S. labor market, and that DOL determined that there were no qualified U.S. workers available to fill these temporary positions. DHS is making this portability available for an additional one-year period in order to provide ( printed page 95652) greater certainty for H-2B employers and workers.[159] The portability provision at new 8 CFR 214.2(h)(32) is substantively the same as the portability provision offered in the FY 2023 and FY 2024 H-2B supplemental visa temporary final rules, which were codified at 8 CFR 214.2(h)(29) and (h)(31), respectively, and will begin upon the expiration of 8 CFR 214.2(h)(31). See new 8 CFR 214.2(h)(32). Additionally, the provision is similar to temporary flexibilities that DHS has used previously to improve employer access to noncitizen workers during the COVID-19 pandemic …

Review method

Two separate automated exact-claim source reviews

Other United States changes operative in 2024

• 2024-01-24USCIS Policy Update on Untimely Filed Requests for Extension of Stay and Change of Status
• 2024-01-29State Department announces domestic H-1B visa renewal pilot
• 2024-02-26DHS adjusts premium processing fees
• 2024-04-01DHS finalizes USCIS fee schedule changes effective April 2024
• 2024-04-08DHS again temporarily increases EAD automatic extension period to 540 days
• 2024-05-26suspension of the employment limitations is available through November 25, 2025
• 2024-06-05DHS and DOJ issue Securing the Border asylum interim final rule
• 2024-06-05Presidential Proclamation 10773 — Securing the Border
• 2024-06-13Employment relief for Ethiopian F-1 students facing severe economic hardship
• 2024-06-13The Secretary is also redesignating Ethiopia for TPS.
• 2024-07-01HHS unaccompanied children foundational rule takes effect
• 2024-08-19DHS implements Keeping Families Together parole-in-place process
• 2024-08-28DHS corrects T nonimmigrant final rule before effective date
• 2024-09-10Extension of Form I-90 Green Card Validity to 36 Months for Renewals
• 2024-10-02EB-1 Extraordinary Ability Evidentiary Criteria Clarification
• 2024-11-07DHS adds Belize to H-2A and H-2B eligible-country lists