US Announced Availability of Additional 35,000 H-2B Visas For Summer

Washington DC: The United States has announced the availability of an additional 35,000 H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas during the second half of fiscal year (FY) 2022. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) of the US, H-2B visas are for US employers seeking to employ additional workers on or after April 1, 2022, through September 30, 2022.

“These additional H-2B visas will help employers meet the demand for seasonal workers at this most critical time, when there is a serious labour shortage,” said Secretary Alejandro N Mayorkas in a statement.

“The visas are accompanied by significant worker protections and provide a safe and lawful pathway for individuals to come to the United States and earn wages in jobs that are not filled by American workers,” he added.

As per a statement issued by Homeland Securities, the supplemental H-2B visa allocation consists of 23,500 visas available to returning workers who received an H-2B visa or were otherwise granted H-2B status during one of the last three fiscal years.

The remaining 11,500 visas are reserved for nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Haiti, regardless of whether they are returning workers. The semiannual cap of 33,000 visas for the second half of FY 2022 was reached on February 25, 2022.

What is H-2B?

American companies (usually from the resort and landscaping sector) always have this unmet need of filling up their seasonal workforce. The H-2B program is intended specifically for allowing companies to bring in foreign nationals to work in the non-agricultural sector within the US for a certain time period. The form is filled out by US-based agents or employers who want to bring in a temporary workforce from outside the US. The workers are then granted H-2B Visa.

Unlike H-1B visas, which are granted to a skilled workforce who possess university degrees and experience in a certain domain, for a period of three to six years, H-2B visa holders are allowed for one year, with renewal for two years. Furthermore, H-2B visa holders are also required to leave the country after their employment is terminated, unlike the H-1B visa which permits holders to stay in the US after the position ends.