2021财年下半年美国H-2B签证申请已达上限

美国移民局（USCIS）于2021年2月24日发布通知，宣布对2021财年下半年接收的临时非农业工人H-2B签证申请已经达到上限。

2021财年下半年美国H-2B签证申请已达上限

根据美国移民局（USCIS）通知，美国移民局已达到国会规定的2021财年下半年临时非农业工人H-2B签证上限。2021年2月12日H-2B工人申请的最终接收日期，申请在2021年10月1日之前开始就业。美国移民局将拒绝2月12日之后收到的新的上限 H-2B申请。

根据规定，移民局确定有必要使用计算机生成的流程来确保公平有序地分配 H-2B 签证号，以满足但不超过 2021 财年的上限。2月17日，移民局进行了一次抽签，从2月12日收到的请愿书中随机抽取。因此，移民局将所有选定的请愿书指定为收据日期，并开始提供高级处理服务。

移民局继续接受不受国会授权上限的H-2B申请。这包括以下类型的请愿：

• 美国目前的H-2B工作人员请求延长逗留期限，并在适用的情况下改变雇用条款或更换雇主。

• 鱼子加工厂，鱼子技师和/或鱼子加工监督员。

• 2009年11月28日至2029年12月31日在北马里亚纳群岛和/或关岛联邦进行劳务或劳务的工人。

H-2B临时非农工人签证项目，旨在为无法找到足够数量的合格美国工人从事临时性非农业工作的美国企业提供临时救济。

根据经修订的《移民和国籍法》，国会将年度H-2B签证上限设置为66,000，其中33,000人为本财政年度上半年度（10月1日至3月31日）开始就业的工人，33,000人为本财政年度下半年（4月1日至9月30日）开始就业的工人（加上本财政年度上半年的任何未用数字）。不过本年度未用尽的H-2B名额不会转向下一财年。

H-2B Cap Reached for Second Half of FY 2021

Release Date  02/24/2021

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has received enough petitions to meet the congressionally mandated H-2B cap for the second half of fiscal year (FY) 2021. Feb. 12, 2021, was the final receipt date for new cap-subject H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date before Oct. 1, 2021. We will reject new cap-subject H-2B petitions received after Feb. 12 that request an employment start date before Oct. 1.

On Feb. 12, the number of beneficiaries for whom USCIS received petitions surpassed the total number of remaining H-2B visas available for the H-2B cap for the second half of FY 2021. In accordance with regulations, we determined it was necessary to use a computer-generated selection process intended to ensure the fair and orderly allocation of H-2B visa cap numbers available, without exceeding the FY 2021 cap. On Feb. 17, we conducted the selection process to randomly select petitions from those received on Feb. 12. Upon completion of this random selection process, we assigned all selected petitions a receipt date and began premium processing services.

We continue to accept H-2B petitions that are exempt from the congressionally mandated cap. This includes petitions for:

Current H-2B workers in the United States who wish to extend their stay and, if applicable, change the terms of their employment or change their employers;

Fish roe processors, fish roe technicians and/or supervisors of fish roe processing; and

Workers performing labor or services in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands and/or Guam from Nov. 28, 2009, until Dec. 31, 2029.

U.S. businesses use the H-2B program to employ foreign workers for temporary nonagricultural jobs. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended, Congress has set the H-2B cap at 66,000 per fiscal year, with 33,000 for workers who begin employment in the first half of the fiscal year (Oct. 1 - March 31) and 33,000 for workers who begin employment in the second half of the fiscal year (April 1 - Sept. 30), plus any unused numbers from the first half of the fiscal year, if any. Unused H-2B numbers from one fiscal year do not carry over into the next fiscal year.

Last Reviewed/Updated: 02/24/2021