An additional 35,000 H-2B worker visas are now available to meet a labor shortage, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Labor have announced.
The visas are for employers who need to hire temporary non-agricultural workers from April 1 through Sept. 30, the DHS stated in the May 16 announcement. The agency reports the semiannual cap of visas for the second half of FY 2022 was hit Feb. 25. Submission of petitions for the visas opened May 18, according to the announcement.
“These additional H-2B visas will help employers meet the demand for seasonal workers at this most critical time, when there is a serious labor shortage,” DHS Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas said in the statement.
Out of those temporary visas, 23,500 will be made available to returning workers who previously received an H-2B visa or otherwise had been granted H-2B status during one of the past three fiscal years, the DHS reports. Nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Haiti will be granted the remaining 11,500 visas.
Employers seeking to hire H-2B workers must "test the U.S. labor market," and provide DOL certification proving a shortage of U.S. workers "able, willing, qualified, and available to do the temporary work for which they seek a prospective foreign worker, and that employing the H-2B workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers," the announcement states.
“The visas are accompanied by significant worker protections," Sec. Majorkas said in the announcement, "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.”
