H-2B - skilled and unskilled workers

The H-2B visa is for those skilled and unskilled workers who don’t fall into the highly educated H-1B category. Workers applying for the H-2B visa must show:

●     A job offer from an employer.

●     That the job in question is temporary or seasonal, meaning that there are beginning and end dates.

●     That there are not enough U.S. workers who are willing and able to do the work

●     Show the correct experience and background for the position

●     Show that the workers with H-2B visas will not harm the wages and work conditions of a similarly employed U.S. worker

●     A permanent address in an eligible country with plans to return at the end of the visa’s term.

An important fact to remember about the H-2B visa is that an employer must petition on behalf of the worker. H-2B holders' spouses and unmarried children under 21 may apply for H-4 visas, but as discussed in the section above, this act might cast doubt on the intent to return to their home country.

The duration of the stay under an H-2B visa is listed on their temporary labor certification. After that, extensions may be granted in one-year increments. H-2B workers may stay for three, aggregated years before it becomes necessary for them to leave. After leaving the U.S. at the end of the three-year term, the worker becomes eligible for another three years of H-2B status. After a three-month hiatus, the worker may apply for a new H-2B visa to return to the States. An important note: time previously spent in the country under different H visas or L visas counts toward the aggregated three years time the visa allows.

A note about the H-2B Cap

Similar to the H-1B visa, the H-2B visas are subject to a limit on the number of visas the government may issue in a fiscal year. The total yearly cap is 66,000. Half of these are available for workers who begin work during the first half of the fiscal year (October 1-March 31), while the other half are allotted for people beginning work in the second half of the fiscal year (April 1-September 30). If 33,000 H-2B visas are not issued during the first fiscal period, the leftover number may carry over to the second-period applicants. Any visas that are not issued during the second period of the year may not carry over to the next fiscal year.