The H-2B non-agricultural temporary worker program allows U.S. employers to request temporary visas to bring in foreign nationals for non-agricultural jobs like landscaping. As in the recent past, the numbers indicate that maximums and caps will not be reached in the first half of fiscal 2014, which ended March 31.

Here is a breakdown of the numbers for H2B temporary visas for the first half of fiscal 2014:

33,000 – The maximum number of H2B visas that will be issued for the first half of the fiscal year.

66,000 – The maximum number of H2B visas that will be issued for the entire fiscal year. Any unused portion from the first half of the fiscal year will carry over to the second half, but unused portions from the end of the fiscal year will not carry over to the new year.

41,000 – The target number of potential H2B beneficiaries that the Department of Homeland Security estimates will be needed, taking into account withdrawals and denials, to reach the maximum number of visas.

37,000+ - The number of potential H2B beneficiaries already being considered for visas in the first half of fiscal year 2014 as of February 21, 2014.

The target numbers for the previous four years have been higher than this year's:
2013 "?u 44,000
2012 "?u 45,000
2011 "?u 47,000
2010 "?u 47,000

In fiscal years 2010, 2011, 2012, the H2B visas issued did not reach the annual cap of 66,000:
FY 2012 "?u 50,009
FY 2011 "?u 50,826
FY 2010 "?u 47,403

63 – The number of countries whose nationals have been approved by the DHS to be eligible for the H2B program in 2014. A national from a country not on the list may only be the beneficiary of an approved H-2B petition if the Secretary of Homeland Security determines that it is in the U.S. interest for him or her to be so.