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USCIS Update H-2B Cap Count for First Half of Fiscal Year 2011

December 27, 2010

USCIS has received H-2B filings on behalf of 32,062 beneficiaries for the first half of Fiscal Year 2011, against a beneficiary target of 47,000. Of these, 28,053 were approved and 4,009 were pending. The 47,000 beneficiary target is USCIS’s estimate of the number of H-2B beneficiaries it will need to meet the 33,000 half-year cap for H-2B nonimmigrants. USCIS is accepting filings for more than enough beneficiaries to meet the H-2B cap considering that a certain number of filings will be denied, rejected or withdrawn, and some H-2B petitioners will ultimately employ fewer H-2B workers than originally requested.

Cap Type	Cap Amount	Beneficiaries Approved	Beneficiaries Pending	Target Beneficiaries¹	Total	Date of Last Count
H-2B 1^st Half	33,000	28,053	4,009	47,000	32,062	12/24/10

¹ Refers to the estimated number of beneficiaries needed to be included on petitions filed with USCIS to reach the H-2B cap, with an allowance for withdrawals, denials and revocations. This number will always be higher than the actual cap.

² As noted, if the cap is not reached for the 1st half of the fiscal year, those numbers will be made available for use during the 2nd half of the fiscal year. In some fiscal years, therefore, depending on demand for H-2B workers, more than 33,000 cap-subject persons may be granted H-2B status during the 2nd half of the fiscal year.