How to Get Additional Temporary Workers with the H-2B Visa Program
Hear from immigration attorney, Jennifer Grady, Esq. about her experience and recommendations for preparing a winning H-2B application. The Grady Firm attorneys have successfully helped employers in the hotel, ski resort, landscaping, forestry, restaurant, winery, and trucking industries bring workers from abroad to supplement their staff on a seasonal or full-time basis since 2018.
In addition, Guest Speaker Wilfredo Reyes, Senior Consultant with USAID, discusses the H-2B program resources from El Salvador, as well as the Supplemental Visa cap for the Northern Triangle countries. He discusses the how USAID provides free recruitment services to US employers under the Northern Triangle Exception, which allows for supplemental visas once the annual cap limit is reached. USAID meets with and vets thousands of Salvadoran workers, sends qualified candidates to the US employer, and assists with fast-track consular processing and transportation of the workers to the US.
What is the H-2B Visa?
The H-2B program permits employers to temporarily hire non-citizens to perform non-agricultural labor or services in the United States. The employment must be of a temporary nature, such as a one-time occurrence, seasonal need, or intermittent need. Employers seeking H-2B workers must take a series of steps to test the U.S. labor market. They must also certify in their petitions that there are not enough U.S. workers who are able, willing, qualified, and available to perform the temporary work for which they seek a prospective foreign worker. In addition, employers must certify that employing H-2B workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers.
The H-2B visa program requires a multi-step process with the Department of Labor, USCIS, and foreign consulates to obtain permission to bring foreign workers to the US for a specific time period.
Time is of the essence, as we will be filing the first stage of our applications in early October for an April 1, 2024 worker start date.
In the meantime, read our H-2B page on our website for all industries, or our trucking industry page. Download our general H-2B information guide, or our trucking industry guide. https://www.gradyfirm.com/h-2b-visa-program-for-temporary-workers
Please share this information with your colleagues who could benefit from extra workers next spring and summer.