Due to the final decision that the Departments of Homeland Security and Labor submitted to the Federal Register, U.S. employers are permitted to hire up to 15,000 more temporary nonagricultural workers under the H-2B program. It is closely connected to the low quantity of nonagricultural workers in the U.S., which can cause serious losses in this business.
To qualify for more visas, petitioners must provide substantial arguments to assure their business can suffer if they will not employ H-2B nonimmigrant workers during fiscal year (FY) 2017.
The Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly reported that there really is a lack of qualified specialists who can perform temporary nonagricultural labor needed by American businesses in FY 2017.
“Congress gave me the discretionary authority to provide temporary relief to American businesses in danger of suffering irreparable harm due to a lack of available temporary workers,” said DHS Secretary John Kelly. “As a demonstration of the Administration’s commitment to supporting American businesses, DHS is providing this one-time increase to the congressionally set annual cap.”
The eligible petitioners for H-2B visas are welcome to file Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker starting on July 19. They also are to submit a supplemental attestation on Form ETA 9142-B-CAA with their petition.
The H-2B Temporary Nonagricultural Worker program will surely help U.S. businesses to bring to the U.S. more workers to perform nonagricultural work of a temporary nature. The annual cap set by the congress comprises around 66,000 immigrants on H-2B petitions. Some 33,000 H-2B visas are available during the first half of the fiscal year. But in May this number was increased according to the Congressional requirements.
