H-2B Temporary Non-Agricultural Worker
Lets US employers bring in foreign workers for temporary non-agricultural jobs - a one-time occurrence, seasonal need, peak-load need, or intermittent need - when qualified US workers are not available. Common in hospitality, landscaping, seafood processing, and similar seasonal industries, and is subject to a strict annual numerical cap.
- Duration
- Generally up to the period authorized on the temporary labor certification, extendable in increments of up to 1 year each, to a maximum total period of stay of 3 years.
- Extensions
- Filed via Form I-129, each accompanied by a new, valid temporary labor certification. After 3 years, the worker must depart and remain outside the US for an uninterrupted 60 days before becoming eligible for a new 3-year period; a qualifying 60-day absence at any time resets the clock.
- Work
- Tied to the specific petitioning employer and job/worksite named in the temporary labor certification; not portable without a new petition.
- Dual intent
- No
- Dependents
- Spouse and unmarried children under 21 may accompany in H-4 status; not authorized to work.
- Path to a green card
- No inherent path; non-dual-intent classification with no built-in immigrant track.
- Processing time
- Standard USCIS service center processing; premium processing available for $1,780 (15 business day decision). Filing windows for cap-subject petitions are constrained by DOL certification timing and the semiannual cap dates.
- Annual cap and waiting lines
- 66,000 per fiscal year statutory cap, split 33,000 for workers starting in the first half of the fiscal year (Oct 1-Mar 31) and 33,000 for the second half (Apr 1-Sep 30); unused first-half numbers roll into the second half but do not carry over between fiscal years. For FY2026, a temporary supplemental allocation added up to 64,716 additional visas (available only to employers attesting to irreparable harm, mostly limited to returning workers), issued under time-limited statutory authority that does not automatically apply to future fiscal years.
Who qualifies
- Job must reflect a genuinely temporary employer need under one of four recognized categories: one-time occurrence, seasonal need, peak-load need, or intermittent need
- As of Jan. 17, 2025, USCIS no longer requires the beneficiary to be a national of a specifically designated eligible country as a matter of USCIS regulation
- Worker must meet minimum requirements stated on the certified temporary labor certification
- For commercial-motor-vehicle jobs, evidence of English proficiency is required
Requirements
- Petitioner must show no qualified, willing, able US workers are available
- Petitioner must show hiring H-2B workers will not adversely affect wages/conditions of similarly employed US workers
- A single valid temporary labor certification from DOL (or Guam DOL for Guam employment) is required, with limited Canadian-musician exception
- No prohibited fees may be collected from the beneficiary at any time, subject to the same denial/revocation and multi-year bar regime as H-2A
- Employer must notify USCIS within 2 workdays of specified employment events (no-show, stopped reporting, termination, early completion)
How to apply
- 1
Employer applies for and receives an approved temporary labor certification from DOL (or Guam DOL)
- 2
Employer files Form I-129 with USCIS, generally including the original TLC, up to 25 named workers per petition
- 3
Once approved, prospective workers outside the US apply for an H-2B visa at a consulate and seek admission at a port of entry, or seek direct admission if no visa is required
Fees and forms
| I-129 base filing fee, named beneficiaries | $1,080 (or $540 for small employers/nonprofits) |
| I-129 base filing fee, unnamed beneficiaries | $580 (or $460 for small employers/nonprofits) |
| Asylum Program Fee | $600 / $300 (small entity) / $0 (nonprofit) |
| Premium processing (Form I-907, optional) | $1,780 (effective March 1, 2026) |
Form ETA-9142B (Application for Temporary Employment Certification, filed with DOL/Guam DOL)Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, with H Classification SupplementForm ETA-9142B-CAA-10 (attestation, required only for FY2026 supplemental cap petitions)
What changed in 2025 and 2026
- 2025-01-17: New H-2 regulations gave USCIS authority to deny H-2B petitions for petitioners/predecessors with serious labor-law violations (applying across H-2A and H-2B), and eliminated the requirement to consider designated-country eligibility as a matter of USCIS regulation
- 2026-01-30: DHS and DOL jointly issued a temporary final rule adding up to 64,716 supplemental H-2B visas for FY2026 (46,226 reserved for returning workers, 18,490 for late-season needs May 1-Sept 30, 2026) under Public Law 119-37; all allocations reported as reached by the relevant filing windows in 2026
- 2025-04-28 / effective 2026-06-15: English-language-proficiency documentation required for H-2B commercial-motor-vehicle jobs, per Executive Order 14286 and related DOL guidance
- 2026-01-01: Expanded travel-ban proclamation bars entry, including H-2B, for nationals of fully-suspended-list countries outside the US without a valid visa as of that date
Where it goes wrong
- Missing the narrow cap filing windows (especially the tight, DOL-cap-triggered deadlines for the supplemental allocations) forfeits the additional visa numbers
- Collecting placement/recruitment fees from the worker triggers the same prohibited-fee denial/revocation/bar regime as H-2A
- Assuming the same worker qualifies as a "returning worker" for supplemental allocations without checking the specific fiscal-year lookback (FY2023-2025 for the FY2026 rule)
- Filing a petition with an employment start date that doesn't match the TLC's start date results in rejection
Also in temporary worker
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