FY2027 H-2B Cap Count: Numbers Are Closing Faster Than Last Year

USCIS's most recent H-2B cap count shows the first half of FY2027 sitting at 30,125 total beneficiaries against a hard cap of 33,000, with 22,257 already approved and another 7,868 pending. That leaves fewer than 3,000 numbers available for petitions requesting start dates between October 1, 2026, and March 31, 2027.

A Faster Pace Than FY2026

Context matters here. Last fiscal year's first half cap, also set at 33,000, was not exhausted until September 12, 2025, well ahead of the October 1 start date but still later in the preseason filing cycle than where we sit now. This year's count is already at over 91 percent of the cap with weeks still to go before we would even reach last year's exhaustion date. Employers who have historically treated the winter filing window as something with a bit of breathing room should recalibrate that assumption for FY2027.

What This Means If You Have Not Filed Yet

For employers who still need H-2B workers for a winter 2027 start and have not yet filed, the runway is shrinking in real time. A petition can clear DOL certification cleanly and still miss the cap simply because the USCIS receipting numbers ran out first. The cap is administered at the petition receipt stage, not the certification stage, so timing between your DOL filing and your I-129 submission matters more with each passing week. If you are in this position, the right move is to talk to counsel now about your remaining options, including whether a filing is still viable and what to do if it is not.

What This Means for Spring 2027 Planning

If your business runs on an April through September H-2B season, the temptation is to wait until the winter cap news settles before turning attention to spring. That approach carries real risk. The steps that precede an H-2B filing, prevailing wage determinations, required recruitment, and the rest of the preparatory work, take real time to complete properly, and that groundwork for spring 2027 filings is already underway for employers who plan ahead. Employers who wait until the first half cap closes to start their own spring process often find that by the time they are ready to file, the practical runway to a spring 2027 start date has closed, leaving 2028 as the next realistic opportunity.

The Bottom Line

The FY2027 H-2B cap season is moving faster than FY2026 did, and the margin for delay is smaller than it has been in recent years. Whether you missed the winter window or are still building out a spring plan, the time to act is now, not after the next cap update comes out.

If you need help evaluating your options for a winter 2027 filing or want to get ahead of your spring 2027 timeline, reach out to our team.