US government releases more H-2B temporary work visas for seafood processors, other seasonal businesses

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Labor (DOL) have released an additional 64,716 H-2B visas for fiscal year 2026, roughly doubling the number of temporary nonimmigrant work visas.

The U.S. government typically authorizes 66,000 visas annually, and businesses have complained that amount is too low to meet seasonal demand – including from the seafood processing sector. To increase availability, Congress has regularly authorized the government to roughly double the number of available visas, and DHS has typically done so.

On 30 January 2026, DHS and DOL announced that it would be releasing 64,716 additional H-2B visas, roughly the same as last year.

“These supplemental visas are available only to U.S. businesses that are suffering irreparable harm or will suffer impending irreparable harm without the ability to employ all the H-2B workers requested in their petition, as attested by the employer on a new attestation form,” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a release. “Before authorizing the additional visa numbers, the secretary of homeland security, in consultation with the secretary of labor, considered the needs of businesses and other factors, including the impact on U.S. workers and the integrity of the H-2B program.”

46,226 of the additional visas will be reserved for returning workers who were awarded an H-2B visa in one of the last three fiscal years.

The announcement comes over two months after more than 30 senators signed onto a joint letter asking DHS and DOL to release the maximum number of additional H-2B visas for fiscal year 2026.

“Chronic labor shortages – faced by seasonal U.S. employers throughout the nation’s history – have been exacerbated by the post-pandemic evolution of the American workforce. As this need grows, so does the pressure on U.S. workers, whose employers’ workforce needs cannot be met with American workers alone,” the senators stated. “Issuing the extra discretionary H-2B visas in a timely manner will help alleviate these workforce shortages and, in doing so, will help create and sustain the jobs of American workers who rely on the H-2B workers to support their duties during their peak seasons.”

U.S. seafood processors often utilize H-2B visas to help fill their seasons workforce. For instance, in 2023, Alaska’s federal lawmakers stated that their state’s seafood processing sector would need 9,000 of the temporary processors for the year.

Recently, some seafood processors have pulled back from using H-2B visas to fill seasonal positions. Unalaska, Alaska, U.S.A.-based UniSea Seafoods told Alaska Public Media that it had reverted to a domestic workforce, citing the cost, complexity, and uncertainty of the H-2B system. Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.-based Trident Seafoods told the publication that it had also returned to using domestic workers.