The H-2B visa program could reach 282,000 workers if FY 2026 House Homeland appropriations rider becomes law: Estimated numbers of H-2B workers employed in the United States, fiscal years 2017–2024 and projected for 2025 and 2026, and the H-2B annual and supplemental caps
| Year | Total H-2B workers | New H-2B visas | H-2B extensions with same employer | H-2B change of employer | H-2B statutory cap | H-2B cap + supplemental cap | H-2B cap + supplemental cap | Total H-2B workers | H-2B cap + supplemental cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 90,169 | 83,600 | 891 | 5,678 | 66,000 | 81,000 | |||
| 2018 | 92,798 | 83,774 | 1,777 | 7,247 | 66,000 | 81,000 | |||
| 2019 | 104,192 | 97,623 | 891 | 5,678 | 66,000 | 96,000 | |||
| 2020 | 74,285 | 61,865 | 2,942 | 9,478 | 66,000 | ||||
| 2021 | 111,116 | 95,053 | 5,042 | 11,021 | 66,000 | 88,000 | |||
| 2022 | 147,612 | 124,644 | 4,727 | 18,241 | 66,000 | 121,000 | |||
| 2023 | 159,929 | 131,704 | 4,740 | 23,485 | 66,000 | 130,716 | |||
| 2024 | 169,177 | 139,541 | 4,580 | 25,056 | 66,000 | 130,716 | 169,177 | ||
| 2025 | 139,541 | 4,580 | 25,056 | 66,000 | 130,716 | 169,177 | 130,716 | ||
| 2026 | 252,342 | 4,580 | 25,056
|
66,000 | 281,978 | 252,342 |
Notes: “Total H-2B workers” represents the author’s estimate based on the number of new visas issued by the U.S. State Department, plus the number of H-2B workers approved for continuing employment with the same employer (i.e., visa extensions or extensions of status), plus the number of H-2B workers with approved petitions to change employers, as reported in the USCIS H-2B Employer Data Hub. It is possible that some H-2B workers may have an approved petition for new employment in the same fiscal year as an approved petition for changing employers, which would lead to those workers being counted twice in the data.
Source: EPI analysis of data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, H-2B Employer Data Hub, U.S. Department of Homeland Security [data files for fiscal years 2015–2024]; and U.S. Department of State, “Nonimmigrant Visa Statistics” (PDF files for tables listed under “Nonimmigrant Visas by Individual Class of Admission” for fiscal years 2015–2023, and “Nonimmigrant Worldwide Issuance and Refusal Data by Visa Category” for fiscal year 2024).