June 10, 2015
Some people who have worked with H-2B visas in recent years didn’t have the opportunity this year. Learn about the H-2B visa cap to understand one of the possible reasons!
This past spring, some U.S. companies that have traditionally hired H-2B workers from Mexico and other countries weren’t able to do so. To understand what happened, it is important to understand the H-2B visa cap established by the U.S. government.
Due to unusually high demand for H-2B workers from U.S. employers this year, the U.S. government agencies that regulate the H-2B program stopped accepting employers’ visa petitions for work beginning before October 1 on March 26, 2015.
H-2B visas allow foreign nationals to travel to the United States to fill temporary, nonagricultural jobs. Before a person can apply for an H-2B visa, his or her employer must complete a process to secure the visas from the U.S. government.
Firstly, the employer must show that there are no U.S. workers interested in taking the jobs he or she is offering. Next, he or she must submit petitions to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to determine the number of H-2B visas he can offer to workers from other countries. Once the visas are approved, prospective workers that are outside of the United States can apply for these H-2B visas at the US embassy or consulates in their country of origin.
In the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), U.S. Congress established a cap on the number of people who can receive H-2B visas during the fiscal year. This means that only 66,000 H-2B visas can be issued between October 1 and September 30 of each year. Only 33,000 people may receive visas to work in the first half of the fiscal year (October 1 – March 1) and another 33,000 in the second half. Any unused visas from the first half of the fiscal year can be used in the second half, but unused visas that remain at the end of the fiscal year do not carry over into the next fiscal year. Once the cap has been reached USCIS will only accept H-2B petitions from employers for workers who are exempt from the cap.
This year, the annual cap was reached for the first time since 2009, and more quickly than in any year since 2006.
The following people are exempt from the H-2B cap:
- Workers in the United States or abroad who have already received an H-2B visa during the same fiscal year.
- Current H-2B workers seeking an extension of their stay in the United States;
- Current H-2B workers seeking a change of employer;
- H-2B workers in the fish roe industry;
- H-2B workers in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands and/or Guam.
On Friday, June 5th, the U.S. government announced that it would reopen the application process for H-2B employer petitions for work beginning before September 30th of this year. After a review, USCIS found that the 66,000 cap had not been reached after all. Between 3,000 and 6,000 H-2B visas will be available for this period. Read more here!
UPDATE: On Monday, June 15th, the U.S. government announced that it had received enough H-2B visa petitions from employers to reach the cap. As of June 11th the application period for H-2B employers is once again closed. U.S. Consulates in Mexico will continue to process workers' applications for visas that have already been approved.
Have you worked in the United States with an H-2B, H-2A or J-1 visa? Or have you experienced fraud in the labor recruitment process? Share a comment about your employer or recruiter and help to build the movement for informed labor migration!