The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the cap for H-2B applications for the first half of the 2018 fiscal year have been met as of Dec. 15, 2017.

The cap has been met earlier than previous years; in the past four years the cap was met between January and March.

Congress mandated 66,000 visas would be authorized per year for H-2B workers: 33,000 visas are issued for the first half of the fiscal year (October - March) and 33,000 for the second half (April - September).

USCIS will continue to accept applications for the second half of the 2018 fiscal year and applications exempt from the cap.

Exemptions are current H-2B workers petitioning to extend their stay, those in the fish roe industry and certain workers in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands or Guam.

USCIS will reject any applications with a start date before Apr. 1, 2018.

H-2B petitioners are encouraged to visit https://www.uscis.gov for information regarding fiscal year caps and status of their applications.