35,000 H-2B visas added for second half of fiscal year

The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Labor will make available an additional 35,000 H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas for the second half of fiscal year 2022. These visas will be set aside for U.S. employers seeking to employ additional workers on or after April 1, 2022, through Sept. 30, 2022. 

“Informed by current demand in the labor market, today we are announcing the availability of an additional 35,000 H-2B visas that will help to support American businesses and expand legal pathways for workers seeking to come to the United States,” said Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “Recognizing the importance of strong worker protections, we will apply greater scrutiny to those employers who have a record of violating obligations to their workers and the H-2B program.”  

“NALP, on behalf of the landscape industry, commends Secretary Mayorkas and Walsh for understanding the critical need to supplement our seasonal workforce with additional H-2B visas during an unprecedented tight labor market,” said Andrew Bray, vice president of government relations. “This announcement of additional H-2B visas in excess of 30,000 and coming before the April 1 date of need is a testament to all those who have been advocating for cap relief; it’s clear your voice matters and was heard.”

The official rule will likely publish by mid-April and will hopefully enable supplemental H-2B workers into the country in early May. The rule will include integrity measures to prove the need to access the supplemental visas and some additional worker protections similar to last year and January.

Due to record demand, the Department of Homeland Security will likely conduct a new lottery for those attempting to access the 23,500 returning worker allocation, and lottery assignments from January will be irrelevant. However, a NALP press release indicated there's not a belief that a lottery will be required to access the 11,500 visas from the Northern Triangle and Haiti.

The supplemental H-2B visa allocation consists of 23,500 visas available to returning workers, who received an H-2B visa or were otherwise granted H-2B status, during one of the last three fiscal years. The remaining 11,500 visas, which are exempt from the returning worker requirement, are reserved for nationals of Haiti, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. 

This information originally comes from a USCIS press release. To read the whole release, click here.