The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will add more H-2B visas in 2023, raising the cap by at least 64,000. This is on top of the regularly available H-2B visa count of 66,000.
The addition for H-2B visas targets additional seasonal workers as businesses continue to roar back with the decline of the pandemic.
Here is the breakdown: The H-2B supplemental includes an allocation of 20,000 visas to workers from Haiti and the Central American countries of Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. The remaining 44,000 supplemental visas will be 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.
Why does this matter? Let’s do a review first of what the H-2B visa is for.
What is the H-2B?
The H-2B visa is also known as the temporary nonagricultural worker visa.
These are given to non-Americans who would like to work for companies that would otherwise suffer “impending irreparable harm” if they did not employ non-citizens.
This can be American businesses in varying fields such as hospitality and tourism, landscaping, seafood processing, and others.
The conditions
Here are the conditions that need to be met for granting the visa:
- The employment needs to be for a limited period
- The limited period must be less than a year
- The employers must prove that there are not enough American workers to do the temporary work
- The employment of the non-Americans must not affect the wages for American workers posted in similar jobs
Those who wish to get an H-2B meanwhile need to get a job offer from an American employer that can meet the above criteria.
Applicants need to prove that they will return to their country after the temporary employment.
After the first limited period is complete, the employee can extend their employment for up to 3 years if the employer can prove that the employee is still needed.
Protection from exploitation
With concerns for exploitation and unfair working conditions, the US DHS and Department of Labor announced the creation of a new White House-convened Worker Protection Taskforce.
“We also will bolster worker protections to safeguard the integrity of the program from unscrupulous employers who would seek to exploit the workers by paying substandard wages and maintaining unsafe work conditions,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro MAyorkas in a statement.
For advice on how to take advantage of this raising of the cap and to find alternate ways to work in the United States, reach out to a trusted immigration lawyer.
