The Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification has announced that on January 1, 2018, the earliest date on which an employer seeking an employment start date of April 1st may file an H-2B application requesting temporary labor certification, it received approximately 4,500 applications covering more than 81,600 worker positions. Except where a statutory exemption applies, the Department of Homeland Security may only issue up to 33,000 H-2B visas for employers seeking to hire H-2B workers during the second half of fiscal year 2018 (April 1 to September 30).