Employers in the United States can now apply for the 35,000 H-2B visas that were recently made available for seasonal foreign guest workers this summer. These visas are valid for anyone working before September 30.
Returning H-2B employees will be eligible for 23,500 visas, while nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras will be eligible for 11,500 visas, regardless of whether they are H-2B returning workers. Those who acquired an H-2B visa or were otherwise given H-2B status during one of the previous three fiscal years are considered returning workers.
The landscaping, hotel, and construction industries, among others, rely on the H-2B guest-worker program, which has a yearly ceiling of 66,000 visas split evenly between the fall/winter and spring/summer seasons. On February 25, the H-2B cap for the second half of the fiscal year 2022 was surpassed.
Employers seeking H-2B workers must prove that there are insufficient U.S. workers who are able, willing, qualified, and available for the positions being offered and that hiring H-2B workers will not have a negative impact on the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers.
