DHS Will Make Additional H-2B Visas Available for Employment in the First Half of FY 2022
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An additional 20,000 H-2B visa numbers will be authorized for temporary non-agricultural employment in FY 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported today. This H-2B cap supplement is the first time DHS is making extra H-2B visas available in the first half of the fiscal year; the visas will be available for H-2B employment that starts or before 31st March 2022. Of the FY 2022 supplemental visas, 13,500 will be available to returning workers who had as of now been granted H-2B status during one of the last three fiscal years. The leftover 6,500 visas will be saved for some nationals. Such as Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, regardless of whether they ever held H-2B status. The FY 2021 H-2B supplemental quota of 22,000 visas was reached on 13th August 2021. So these FY 2022 supplemental numbers give an extra chance for certain H-2B employers.
DHS Makes Extra H-2B Cap Visas Available for Employment of FY 2022
As with earlier supplemental increases, employers are probably going to be needed to attest. That their business is in danger of irreparable harm without the additional workers. Employers are also likely to be able to recruit workers who are now present in the United States in H-2B status without waiting for approval of the new petition. The supplemental increase applies to FY 2022 only and does not affect the H-2B program in future fiscal years.
Employers looking for H-2B workers should test the U.S. labor market and certify in their petitions. That there are not enough U.S. workers who are able, willing, qualified, and available for the offered positions; and that employing H-2B workers will not adversely influence the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers. The supplemental increase will mean businesses looking for new H-2B workers will need to engage in additional recruitment efforts.
Filing instructions are expected soon
Once the temporary final rule has been published, eligible employers looking for cap-subject H-2B workers can file Form I-129. Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, looking for extra H-2B workers. They should submit an attestation with their petition to demonstrate their business is suffering irreparable harm. Or will suffer impending irreparable harm without a supplemental workforce.
[Republicans attempt another shot at H-1B and OPT]
Extra details on eligibility and filing requirements will be available in the temporary final rule and the Cap Count for H-2B Nonimmigrants site page.
