Pabian Law's H-2B Visa Quarterly Update (December 2025)

Pabian Law Clients and Friends,

We hope that this H-2B Quarterly Update finds you well. We are excited to share the Pabian Law Quarterly Update for December 2025, serving as an educational update on government and regulation changes, trends, alerts, and other pertinent information.

Please read on for information about the following topics:

• Update on cap relief – still no news
• Dangers of hiring H-2B visa workers through job contractors
• Why employers should use lawyers as H-2B visa providers instead of recruiters or agents
• Increase in denials at consulates and embassies
• StaffingSummit.com is live!
• Upcoming Pabian Law education

But first, an important note about H-2B visa planning for the winter 2026-2027 season:

Planning for the Winter 2026-2027 season

Despite it only being early December and the start of the current season for many of you, we are now at the time of year that we need to begin planning and strategizing for next season's H-2B visa petitions. While petition work will not start until mid-March, speaking soon will allow you time to plan, strategize, budget, and have internal conversations before final decisions need to be made about your H-2B visa petitions for the 2026-2027 season.

And this year is more important than ever to plan, due to:

• The likelihood that the out-of-country numerical cap will be reached for October 1^st start dates
  • If year-over-year demand continues to increase at the pace of prior years, the cap will be reached for October 1^st start dates and some will be unable to recruit out-of-country workers for the first time ever.
• Holes due to humanitarian issues
  • So many humanitarian statuses, such as Temporary Protected Status (TPS), Humanitarian Parole, asylum, refugee programs, and more have been terminated, resulting in thousands of people that were previously eligible to work no longer in the workforce. This is going to leave gaping holes, especially in Florida where the majority of these foreign nationals are located.
• Compliance & ICE actions
  • Immigration enforcement continues to rise and this figures to be a trend for years to come. Having time to plan also means having time to work through compliance mandates and issues. Additionally, working with an experienced H-2B visa law firm is vital in today's environment.
• Recruiting headaches
  • Due to the difficulty of coming to the U.S., more workers are choosing to remain in the country. That, along with numerical cap concerns, have led more winter employers to file for in-country workers. While this is a great solution, it also sometimes comes with recruiting challenges such as workers backing out of offers, going silent on employers, and trying to drive up wages and benefits. I can speak to recruiting strategizes and solutions during planning calls.

In addition to the above, I am also excited to share some of the incredible happenings and offerings at Pabian Law, including additional education and training opportunities for clients. We now offer several complementary educational opportunities for clients each month, as well a free virtual trainings for our clients' human resources team and compliance trainings for managers and supervisors.

Current and prospective winter-season clients – please email me at keith@pabianlaw.com to schedule a complimentary planning and strategy call.

Update on cap relief – still no news

As a reminder, under H-2B visa laws, there are 33,000 H-2B visas available from October 1^st to March 31^st (winter season) and another 33,000 visas available from April 1^st to September 30^th (summer season) for out-of-country H-2B visa workers. This out-of-country visa quota is referred to as the H-2B visa cap. Typically, the government has made additional out-of-country H-2B visas available each year through cap relief and by this time each year, cap relief (the "Supplemental Cap") has already been announced. However, we still have not heard any news on whether cap relief will be happening again this year.

There continues to be extensive lobbying by many business groups to push the government to announce cap relief and release additional visas. The government has been quiet on when and if this will happen.

Cap relief is incredibly important to employers across the country. The statutory cap is far insufficient for what employers need nationally. For example, about 150,000 worker applications were received for April 1^st start dates (the first day of the summer-season period) and about 45,000 worker applications were received for October 1^st start dates (the first day of the winter-season period). The 33,000 for each season is far too low for the reality of today's seasonal employer needs.

We will continue to provide updates on cap relief. At this point, it may come too late for most winter-season employers for the current season. We are hopeful that it is announced prior to mid-January, when lottery assignments are issued for April 1^st start date organizations. This will assist mightily with summer-season organizations' ability to plan.

Finally, remember that filing a Supplemental Cap H-2B visa petition usually comes with strings attached, including needing to make an attestation that your organization would suffer "irreparable harm" without the workers, as well as increased risk of being audited on irreparable harm and other issues.

We will keep you apprised of news of cap relief as we hopefully receive updates in the days and weeks ahead.

Dangers of hiring H-2B visa workers through job contractors

We want to flag a very concerning trend of contractors offering to place H-2B visa workers with organizations for their busy seasons. In this scenario, the contractors are offering to file for H-2B visa petitions and then place the approved H-2B visa workers at seasonal organizations. Very alarming to us, some of the companies offering this service are known agents and recruiters in the H-2B visa space.

There is almost never a scenario where this would be legal and there is an immense amount of risk that comes along with an organization utilizing H-2B visa holders through a contractor.

We have recently witnessed two specific situations that highlight some significant red flags for H-2B visa employers that could result in denials, massive compliance issues, and other risks. In the first instance, a well-known H-2B visa recruiter (a non-lawyer) informed an employer that the recruiter could file an H-2B visa petition through their agency and place those workers at the employer's property. In the second instance, an employer used H-2B visa workers through a job contractor. However, due to the contractor not understanding who the true "employer" of H-2B visa workers are under the regulations, the contractor instructed the employer to add the workers to the employer's payroll.

The above are just two examples of what appears to be a growing trend in the H-2B visa world of contractors and other non-lawyers offering to provide H-2B visa workers without understanding or conveying the risks involved to the end-employer. The risks include:

• The contractor being denied H-2B visas when the employer is relying on those approvals, leaving the employer without proper staffing for their busy season.
  • U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) takes a very strict stance against contractors and increasingly denies these petitions.
• The employer being held joint and severally liable with the job contractor for all terms and conditions of H-2B visa workers' employment.
  • This is incredibly concerning considering the employer has no idea what was – or was not – included on the H-2B visa petition.
• Employers being held to the representations made by the contractor on the H-2B visa petition.
• Immigration enforcement against the employer, including unannounced site visits and U.S. Department of Labor Wage & Hour Audits, which likely would highlight errors and omissions on the contractor's H-2B visa petition that the employer was unaware of, but is now being held liable for such issues.

To put it simply, if the H-2B visa job contractor makes a mistake on the application, makes a misrepresentation or omission, or if the end-employer does not fully understand the compliance obligations (e.g., the three-fourths guarantee) or the terms and conditions of employment disclosed on the forms (e.g., the minimum wage obligation), then the end-employer could be held liable by the government. Further, if the job contractor charges the workers a recruitment or placement fee or does some other illegal action (even if the end-employer does not know about it), the employer could be held liable for the job contractor's bad actions (which could include being subject to denials of future H-2B applications or even in severe cases, criminal liability). Also, job contractors often handle personnel actions and government correspondence on behalf of H-2B visa workers. Therefore, if the job contractor does not handle these matters correctly (e.g., does not reimburse the workers for travel expenses or does not notify the government if a worker quits or is terminated), then the end-employer could still be held liable for the job contractor's failures.

Given the significant risks associated with hiring H-2B visa workers through job contractors, it is important that employers understand the dangerous consequences of working with these companies. Shared liability for a job contractor's failures could lead to significant financial penalties, future denials of H-2B visa applications, or even criminal investigations.

Why employers should use lawyers as H-2B visa providers instead of recruiters or agents

Especially in today's political environment where immigration compliance and enforcement, is an ongoing national priority, it is more important than ever for employers to use a law firm for all of their H-2B visa and immigration petitions. Where lawyers are trained to understand the importance of legal compliance, recruiters and agents are primarily focused on recruiting and worker placements. This lack of attention to legal requirements puts organizations at significant risk of government discipline through heavy fines, disbarment from the H-2B visa program, and more.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) January 2025 update to the H-2B visa program's regulations places even more emphasis on compliant H-2B visa petitions and employer actions. This "modernization rule" aimed to improve the H-2 temporary visa programs by strengthening worker protections through increased scrutiny on employers. The rule brought heightened consequences for noncompliance, including discretionary petition denials from U.S Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS).

For example, we have heard of USCIS denying petitions for employers found in prior years to have had their H-2B visa workers performing different duties or working in a different location than what was disclosed in the H-2B visa application. Employers must adhere strictly to the H-2B visa program regulations – including reimbursing their H-2B visa workers for travel, following the terms of the job order, and not charging workers any prohibited fees – to ensure they remain compliant. Therefore, because it is the employer's name on the H-2B visa petitions, it is important they understand the rules and how the bad actions of recruiters and agents can have major blowback on them.

An attorney can assist in assuring program compliance during the filing process, where recruiters and agents may allow mistakes and misrepresentations to occur. Perhaps more importantly, many attorneys also provide education, guides, and other tools for employers to ensure they understand compliance obligations that occur during the employment period – after the application process is complete. Unforeseen and complicated scenarios come up often during the employment period, and having an experienced and compliance-focused attorney to speak with makes a world of difference.

Do not put your H-2B visa petitions and organization at risk by allowing non-lawyers, such as agents and recruiters, to file your petitions! It is fine to use recruiters to source your workers, but be sure to separate the legal work from them and use an experienced H-2B visa law firm to ensure success and compliance in your international programs.

Increase in denials at consulates and embassies

The immigration world is abuzz about the increasing number of visa denials at consulates and embassies. As a reminder, if a worker is outside the United States, after the visa petition is approved, they have to go to the U.S. consulate or embassy in their home country to have their visa issued to them before travelling to the United States. Only some Canadian citizens are exempted from this requirement.

A primary reported reason for the consulate and embassy denials is that workers are allegedly not sufficiently demonstrating their nonimmigrant intent (the workers considering their home country to be their primary residence where they continue to live) and their strong ties to their home country, as required by U.S. law. Also, it appears that some denials are due to the consulates simply not understanding the H-2B visa regulations and denying applicants with previous H-2B visa extensions within the U.S. It feels like many consular officers are looking for any reason to deny visa applications in the current climate.

With these issues in mind, the following could help to strengthen applicants' chances at consular interviews during this time of increased scrutiny:

• Establishing proof of ties outside of the United States: According to H-2B visa regulations, in order to determine whether a resident of a foreign country has the intent to return home after completing their temporary work period in the U.S., the applicant must show ties to their home country and likelihood of returning after the temporary stay in the U.S., whether or not that temporary stay is extended. Employers should encourage applicants to bring as much proof of those home ties as possible to prevent the issues described above. We recommend that workers bring as many of the following documents as they can to their consulate appointment:
  • Property deed/title
  • Proof of car ownership in home country
  • Apartment lease
  • Proof of school/university enrollment in home country
  • Utility bills/payments
  • Foreign tax returns
  • Foreign bank account statements
  • Recent mail addressed to you at foreign address
  • Marriage certificate of spouse remaining in applicant's home country
  • Birth certificates of children
  • Birth certificates of siblings
  • Birth certificates of parents
  • Recent social media posts with photographs of the applicant with friends/family members at locations in home country
  • Signed affidavits of friends/family attesting to ties to home country
• Consulates and embassies are misunderstanding the law: We are also seeing that some consulates and embassies do not understand the H-2B visa regulations and are denying applicants without valid reason. Embassy workers may be unaware of certain nuances in the H-2B visa regulations and their purpose. For example, H-2B visa workers can work in the U.S. for up to three (3) years consecutively, before needing to return to their home country to reset their time for at least sixty (60) consecutive days. These change of employer (or "extension of stay") petitions are valid under the H-2B visa regulations. However, some consulates are denying applicants anyway, incorrectly believing that an extension means the worker no longer has temporary intent in the U.S. While perhaps consulate workers find these policies allowing visa extensions and consecutive stays to be counterintuitive to the temporary nature of an H-2B visa, that does not make the policies any less valid. The law simply requires that workers prove strong ties to their home country such that they can prove they are likely to return abroad after their stay in the U.S.

We will be monitoring problems and patterns at the consulates and will keep you informed. Please let us know if you are concerned or require assistance with this portion of the H-2B visa process. We will continue exploring solutions to the above issues and provide updates as they come.

StaffingSummit.com is live!

Thanks to so many of you, our Annual Staffing Summit has grown to become known in the industry as a must-attend event for education, collaboration, and connections. Attendees fly in from across the country for 3 incredible days of learning and mixing with other seasonal businesses from around the country. And the event keeps getting larger, with national speakers and incredible collaborative events.

Due to the growth of the Summit, we did something big – we made an entire website devoted to the Staffing Summit!!! You now will have a one-stop location to learn about the Summit, the schedule, the location, activities to do in the area, and so much more. And with us on the verge of signing agreements for the next 3 Summits, you will be able to see locations and dates for upcoming Summits.

I encourage you to check out the Staffing Summit website at www.staffingsummit.com.

Also, if you know of anyone that would be a good speaker or a company that would benefit from sponsoring the event, it would be wonderful if you can direct them to the website to learn more.

Thank you all for making this event such a success! I am excited to see the continued growth and impact of the event for many years to come!

Upcoming Pabian Law education

Mark your calendars for our upcoming education opportunities!

• Monthly H-2B Office Hours:
  • Please join us on Tuesday, December 18^th at 2:00pm EST for our final monthly office hours/Q&A session of 2025.
  • All active Pabian Law clients are welcome, and there are no silly questions!
  • Pabian Law Clients – please email us for the registration link.
• Next Town Hall Webinar:
  • "Making Sense of the H-2B Visa Lottery & Demand"
  • Thursday, January 15^th at 2:00pm EST!
  • Pabian Law Clients – please email us for the registration link.

• H-2B Visa Workshops:
  • Pabian Law is excited to be hosting three in-person H-2B Visa Workshops in Florida this March to help winter-season organizations prepare for their H-2B visa petitions for the winter 2026-20278 season!
  • Please see below for when and where these workshops will be held:
    • Duck Key, Florida (Hawks Cay Resort): March 3, 2026 from 8:30-10:30am
    • Palm Beach Gardens, Florida (DoubleTree by Hilton): March 4, 2026 from 8:30-10:30am
    • Naples, Florida (Players Club & Spa): March 5, 2026 from 8:30-10:30am
  • Register online at: https://www.eventleaf.com/e/pabian-law-h3b-workshops-2026
  • Pabian Law Clients – please email us for the discount code.
• Annual Staffing Summit:
  • This year we are taking the annual Staffing Summit to beautiful Portland, Maine!
  • As a reminder, this in-person event is presented by Pabian Law and Seasonal Connect and will be held from Monday, July 20^th to Wednesday, July 22^nd.
  • Join us for an incredible 3 days of learning, collaboration, and networking!
  • Please visit www.staffingsummit.com for more information!
  • Registration for the 2026 Staffing Summit will open on February 1, 2026.
• Pabian Law YouTube Channel: We have a YouTube channel! Watch out for our weekly videos answering some of our clients' most frequently asked questions. Access Pabian Law's YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@PabianLaw.
• H-2B Visa Process Overview & Manager Trainings: Pabian Law clients are offered complimentary trainings on the H-2B visa process. Please reach out if you are interested in scheduling a training.

Conclusion

We hope that you enjoyed this Quarterly Update. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions about the topics listed above or any other immigration-related matters. Wishing you all a very Happy Holidays!

Warm regards,

Keith Pabian and your friends at Pabian Law

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.