The cap of 16,500 additional H-2B visas made available for foreign workers on non-agricultural jobs planning to return between April 1, to May 14, to work in the United States has been reached, under the FY 2023 H-2B supplemental visa temporary final rule.
According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the cap set of the H-2B visas has been reached, and any H-2B application received after March 30 for a returning worker under the early second half of Fiscal Year 2023 allocation, will be rejected.
However, applicants from a few countries will be able to continue to apply, VisaGuide.World reports.
“We continue to accept petitions for H-2B nonimmigrant workers for the additional 20,000 visas allotted for nationals of Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras for the first and second halves of FY 2023,” the agency has noted in a statement issued last Friday, March 31.
It also encourages applicants from these countries, whose applications have not been accepted under the 16,500 returning-worker allotment for the early second half of this fiscal year, to reapply under Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras as there are still visas available for workers from these countries.
The agency also points out that until March 30, only 9,791 petitions requesting workers from the above-mentioned four countries have been accepted, under the 20,000 visas that have been set aside for them by the US authorities.
The applications for the actual second half of FY 2023 will open on April 13, for those with employment dates between May 15 and September 30, this year.
“The 10,000 visas made available under this allocation are limited to returning workers who were issued H-2B visas or held H-2B status in fiscal years 2020, 2021, or 2022, regardless of country of nationality,” the agency highlights.
It further notes that it will continue to admit H-2B petitions for workers who are exempt from the congressionally mandated cap, in which are included those currently working in the US under this visa, and petitioning to extend their stay.
The agency will, at the same time, continue to accept applications from fish roe processors, fish roe technicians, and/or supervisors of fish roe processing, as well as workers performing labor or services in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands and/or Guam.
The H-2B is a visa program for the employment of temporary non-agricultural workers by American companies in the US, in cases when the latter cannot find the needed workers within the US.
The visa does not permit its holders to stay in the US for more than one year, however, the same can be extended. Visa holders can also apply to change the employer with which they initially came to the US.
These visa holders can also bring their spouse and children under 21 years old to the US with them, under an H-4 visa.
In December 2022, the Department for Homeland Security and Labor decided to increase the maximum number of H-2B visas, for the first time ever, in order to tackle the absence of workers in these fields.
>> USCIS Announces That H-2B Cap for Fiscal Year 2023 Has Been Reached
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