U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the congressionally mandated H-2B cap for the final six months of Fiscal Year 2006 (FY 2006). USCIS is notifying the public that April 4, 2006 is the “final receipt date” for new H-2B worker petitions requesting employment start dates prior to October 1, 2006 .

USCIS will apply a computer-generated random selection process to all petitions, which are subject to the cap and were received on April 4, 2006 . This process will select the number of petitions needed to meet the cap. USCIS will reject all cap-subject petitions not randomly selected. USCIS will also reject petitions for new H-2B workers seeking employment start dates prior to October 1, 2006 that arrive after April 4, 2006 .

Petitions for both current and returning H-2B workers do not count towards the congressionally mandated bi-annual H-2B cap. In order to qualify, the worker must have counted against the H-2B numerical cap between October 1, 2002 and September 30, 2005 . Any worker not certified as a “returning worker” is subject to the numerical limitations for the relevant fiscal year.

Petitions received after the “final receipt date” which contain a combination of “returning workers” and workers subject to the H-2B cap will be rejected with respect to non-returning workers, and petitioning employers will receive partial approvals for those aliens who qualify as “returning workers” if otherwise approvable.

USCIS will continue to process petitions filed to:

• Extend the stay of a current H-2B worker in the United States ;
• Change the terms of employment for current H-2B workers and extend their stay;
• Allow current H-2B workers to change or add employers and extend their stay; or
• Request eligible H-2B “returning workers.”

More information about the H-2B work program is available at www.uscis.gov or by calling the National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283 .