USCIS announced on June 3, 2021 that of the 22,000 additional H-2B visas available for seasonal non-agricultural workers filling jobs starting before September 30, 2021, the 16,000 visas reserved for returning H-2B visa holders have already been exhausted.
USCIS began accepting new employer petitions on May 25, 2021, and in only five business days, more returning workers H-2B visas had been requested than the 16,000 cap allowed. Petitions received for returning H-2B workers after June 1, 2021 will be returned by USCIS to the petitioning employers.
An additional 6,000 H-2B visas are reserved for workers who would be coming from the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Employers who hope to get H-2B workers from these countries must file their petitions by July 8, 2021.
More information about the additional FY 2021 H-2B visas can be found here.