New York: The US will begin accepting petitions for re-entry H-2B visa workers in the second half of fiscal year 2023. The Federal Agency for Immigration Services said that these visas would be granted under the Supplemental Cap Temporary Final Rule. Under this rule announced in December last year, a limit of 10,000 visas has been fixed for the second half of the year 2023 i.e. from May 15 to September 30, for which people of any country can apply.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said the 10,000 visas made available under this allocation are limited to returning workers who were previously issued H-2B visas or their H-2B visas will expire in fiscal years 2020, 2021 or 2022. was temporarily suspended. This facility will be given only to those US companies that are facing or could face irreparable loss due to the shortage of employees with H-2B visas.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) jointly published a temporary final rule on December 15, 2022, allowing the cap for H-2B nonimmigrant visas to increase to 64,716 for fiscal year 2023 Went. Of these 64,716 additional visas, 44,716 are available only for returning workers. The remaining 20,000 visas are for citizens of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras and Haiti, who do not necessarily have to be in the returning worker category.
This is the first time the departments have issued a single rule to make H-2B supplemental visas available for multiple allocations throughout the fiscal year, including allocations for the second half of the fiscal year. The interim final rule contains several provisions to protect both US and H-2B workers from exploitation and abuse. H-2B visas are issued for temporary jobs, allowing employers to hire skilled or unskilled workers to fill labor shortages in the US. The employer must obtain certification from the Department of Labor before starting the visa application.
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