The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced this week that it has received enough H-2B petitions to meet this year’s congressionally mandated cap of 66,000 new workers. USCIS has stopped accepting new H-2B petitions as of Jan. 3, 2005.
Using procedures established last March in the Federal Register, USCIS will:
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Process all petitions received by the close of business on Jan. 3, 2005.
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Return all petitions subject to the annual cap (along with filing fee, and if applicable, premium processing fee), that were or are filed after the close of business on Jan. 3, 2005.
Petitioners may resubmit or file new petitions when they have received labor certification approval for work to start on Oct. 1, 2005. USCIS says it will provide further details on these new procedures soon.
According to a news updated and call-for-action distributed by the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA), a larger number of green industry businesses than last year will likely be negatively impacted by the inability to bring H-2B workers to their companies. ALCA and the Professional Lawn Care Association of America (PLCAA), which officially merged on Jan. 1 to form the Professional Landcare Network, say they recognize that the 66,000-worker cap is an immediate concern in the industry and have already begun working with the American Nursery & Landscape Association to create a stronger united front in conveying this message to legislators.