On Thursday, May 12, 2016, USCIS announced that it has received a sufficient number of H-2B petitions to reach the congressionally mandated cap (66,000) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2016. May 12, 2016 is now the “final receipt date” for cap-subject H-2B worker requesting employment start dates before October 1, 2016. The “final receipt date” is the date on which USCIS determined that it has received enough cap-subject petitions to reach the limit of H-2B workers for FY2016.
USCIS will reject new H-2B petitions that were received after May 12, 2016 and that request an employment start date before October 1, 2016, but there are some exceptions!
The exceptions are listed below: