The October 2026 H-2B Lottery Just Happened. Here's What It Means for Your Season.

For the fourth year in a row, the Department of Labor had to run a lottery for H-2B applications requesting October 1 start dates. The three-day filing window closed on July 5, and on July 6 OFLC randomized every timely application into assignment groups.

The numbers tell the story: 2,625 applications covering 51,158 worker positions were filed for an allotment of just 33,000 visas — the first-half cap for Fiscal Year 2027. Demand outran supply by more than half again, before the fiscal year even started.

If you're a winter-season employer — ski resorts, holiday hospitality, seafood processing, winter grounds crews — here's what this means and what to do next.

What the assignment groups mean

Every application filed July 3–5 was randomly ordered and placed into one of two groups.

Group A (1,881 cases). These applications are being assigned to analysts now for Notices of Acceptance or Deficiency. Group A contains enough worker positions to reach the full 33,000-visa allotment. If your case is in Group A, your clock is running: respond to any Notice of Deficiency quickly, complete recruitment steps on schedule, and be ready to move the moment certification issues — the I-129 petition to USCIS should follow the same day.

Group B (744 cases). These applications wait. They'll only be processed if Group A cases fall out — through denials, withdrawals, or deficiencies that aren't cured. It happens every year, but it isn't something to plan a season around.

Employers received written notice of their group assignment on July 6. If you filed and haven't confirmed your group with whoever handled your filing, do that today.

If you're in Group A

Selection is not certification. The applications that convert fastest share the same traits: clean job orders, accurate wage information, complete recruitment documentation, and same-day responses at every step. The gap between certification and your workers actually arriving still contains the I-129 petition, consular appointments, and travel logistics — each one a place where days slip away if no one owns the calendar.

If you're in Group B or missed the window entirely

You have real options, but they all reward speed.

Later start dates. The three-day window only governed October 1 start dates. Applications requesting October 2 or later follow the standard filing timeline — generally 75 to 90 days before your date of need. The catch: they draw from the same 33,000-visa pool, which Group A is already positioned to exhaust. The earlier your filing, the better your position if numbers open up.

In-country transfers. Workers already in the U.S. in H-2B status who transfer between employers are cap-exempt. For employers with later winter start dates, in-country recruiting is often the most realistic path — and it's becoming more competitive each season, so the effort should start now, not in October.

Supplemental visas. In recent years, DHS has authorized supplemental H-2B allocations beyond the statutory cap, with large portions reserved for returning workers. Whether and when supplemental numbers arrive for FY2027 is not guaranteed — but employers with organized files and documented returning workers are the ones positioned to use them if they come.

Plan the April window now. The second-half FY2027 cap — for start dates of April 1, 2027 and later — has its own three-day filing window in early January 2027. Working backward from an April 1 date of need, the prevailing wage request should be underway by roughly November, and the whole file should be ready before the holidays. Every year, the employers who make the January window comfortably are the ones who started in the fall.

The pattern is the lesson

Four straight October lotteries. Oversubscription within a three-day window. This is no longer an unusual event to react to — it's the operating environment. The employers who keep crews staffed are the ones who treat H-2B as a year-round calendar with two filing seasons, not a form to fill out when the shortage hits.

That calendar looks like this: prevailing wage requests 150–120 days before the date of need, the ETA-9142B ready before the window opens, recruitment steps tracked to the day, same-day I-129 filing on certification, and same-day recruiter notification on approval. None of it is complicated. All of it has to happen on time.

Where Laborsolv fits

Laborsolv coordinates that calendar for employers nationwide — intake, document collection, deadline management, recruitment compliance tracking, and consular logistics — working alongside independent immigration attorneys who prepare and file every application and petition. We don't practice law, and we don't supply workers. We make sure nothing about your filing is late, incomplete, or sitting in someone's inbox.

If your October filing landed in Group B, or you're already thinking about April 1, the most useful next step is a timeline review: your dates of need, your recruitment history, and a working-backward calendar for the next window. Request a free filing timeline review on our Contact page.

Laborsolv is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice or legal services. Laborsolv does not recruit, employ, or supply workers. Legal services, when required, are provided by independent licensed immigration attorneys under a separate engagement. No outcome, visa issuance, or cap selection is guaranteed. Program details reflect Department of Labor announcements as of July 2026 and may change.