H-2B visas open for late second half returning workers for FY 2023
Darpan News Desk IANS, 12 Apr, 2023 05:14 PM
New York, April 12 (IANS) The US will begin accepting petitions for H-2B visa workers for the late second half of fiscal year 2023 under the supplemental cap temporary final rule, the federal agency for immigration services announced.
Under this rule, which was announced in December last year, there are 10,000 visas limited to returning workers regardless of country of nationality, for the late second half of fiscal year 2023, that is May 15 to September 30.
"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," the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said.
These supplemental visas are available only to the US businesses that are suffering irreparable harm or will suffer impending irreparable harm without the ability to employ all the H-2B workers requested in their petition, as attested by the employer on a new attestation form.
On December 15, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) jointly published a temporary final rule increasing the cap on H-2B non-immigrant visas by up to 64,716 additional visas for all of FY 2023.
Of the 64,716 additional visas, 44,716 are available only for returning workers (workers who received an H-2B visa or were otherwise granted H-2B status in one of the last three fiscal years).
The remaining 20,000 visas are set aside for nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras (collectively called Northern Central American countries) and Haiti, who are exempt from the returning worker requirement.
As of April 10, 2023, USCIS has received petitions requesting 11,537 workers under the 20,000 visas set aside for nationals of Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
USCIS is continuing to accept H-2B petitions under this allocation.
This is the first time the Departments have issued a single rule making available H-2B supplemental visas for several allocations throughout the entire fiscal year, including an allocation for the late second half.
The temporary final rule features several provisions to protect both, the US and H-2B workers, from exploitation and abuse.
The H-2B visas are issued for seasonal/temporary jobs which allow employers to hire skilled or unskilled workers to fulfil the shortage of workers in the US.
The employer must obtain a Department of Labor certification before the visa application can be initiated.
India was the leading country of origin of international migrants in 2019 with a 17.5 million strong diaspora, according to new estimates released by the United Nations, which said the number of migrants globally reached an estimated 272 million.
Every fourth non-resident foreign national in the US in 2016 was an Indian, according to a report which states that about 60 per cent of the resident non-immigrants were citizens of Asian countries, with those from China accounting for 15 per cent.
Tropical Depression Imelda slammed Texas on Thursday, causing devastating flooding, power outages and prompting urgent rescues and warnings across south-eastern Texas for people to stay indoors.
UN General Assembly: "What they want to do is their call. We've seen them mainstream terrorism in the past. And what you're now telling me is they may want to mainstream hate speech. It's their call, if they want to do that. Poison pens don't work for too long," he said.
Ismail has launched a research and advocacy group called Voices for Peace and Democracy aimed at protecting women in the conflict-hit zones of the world.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming agenda-heavy US visit may start a new phase of corporate relations between major energy companies of the two countries.
