For FY 2026, USCIS made up to 64,716 supplemental H-2B visas available on top of the standard 66,000 statutory cap, split into three allocations for returning and new workers. That relief has now been distributed, and the second half of the FY 2026 cap has closed. Employers requesting a start date after September 30, 2026 are now filing against the FY 2027 cap.
For businesses in hospitality, seafood processing, landscaping, and other seasonal industries, the lesson from this year is timing. Petitions with early-season start dates faced the tightest competition, and supplemental allocations moved quickly once released, often with only a short filing window once eligibility criteria were published.
Employers planning FY 2027 hiring should not wait for a cap-relief announcement before beginning preparations. A compliant H-2B filing requires a temporary labor certification, a prevailing wage determination, and documented recruitment of U.S. workers before a petition can even be filed, steps that typically take months. Employers with returning workers from the last three fiscal years should confirm that history early, since it can affect which allocation a petition falls into.
Congress has authorized supplemental H-2B relief for several consecutive years, but nothing guarantees the same level, or timing, for FY 2027. Employers who build staffing plans around the standard cap, and treat relief as a bonus rather than a certainty, are best positioned to avoid a seasonal staffing gap.
If you are a business that can document a peak need through seasonality or an uptick in business during months beginning April 1st, now is the time to begin. At Brodzki Jacobs, we have guided hospitality, shipbuilding, and other seasonal employers through the H-2B process for decades.
