The H-2B Coalition, which LICA has joined as a participating member, continues to work for an increase in the annual H-2B cap for the number of workers eligible for temporary work status under the program. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which administers the program, announced it has already received enough petitions to fill the congressionally established H-2B cap for the first half of fiscal year (FY) 2027. Sept. 4, 2026 was the final deadline for worker petitions under the 2027 first-half-year cap requesting an employment start date before April 1, 2027.
While continuing to work on an increase in the cap, the coalition has written to Congress to request assistance in addressing several persistent processing problems that are increasingly undermining employers' ability to use the H-2B program. The letter includes a list of suggested administrative reforms that could help the program work more efficiently.
The letter points out that employers invest substantial time and resources recruiting U.S. workers, obtaining temporary labor certifications from the Department of Labor, filing petitions with USCIS, and arranging visa processing through the Department of State. Yet even after employers have completed these requirements, avoidable administrative delays and processing delays persist. The letter points out errors can prevent approved workers from reaching American businesses when they are actually needed.
The recommendations ask USCIS to:
- Establish a time-limited pilot permitting program qualifying H-2B renewal applicants to receive discretionary interview waivers.
- Maintain full consular discretion to require an interview in any individual H-2B case.
- Establish a transparent, dedicated, and expedited H-2B intake-error review process.
- Accept a petition using its appropriate original filing date when USCIS determines that a timely and complete petition was erroneously rejected.
- Establish expedited procedures for erroneous rejections affecting H-2B portability so that USCIS processing mistakes do not unnecessarily interrupt lawful employment or leave employers and workers in prolonged uncertainty.
- Develop and pilot an electronic H-2B petition filing system in consultation with experienced program stakeholders before making electronic filing mandatory.
- Establish a concurrent-processing framework, modeled on the H-2A program, permitting eligible H-2B employers to file their petitions with USCIS following DOL's issuance of a Notice of Acceptance.