United States Re-Opens Visa Plan for Foreign Workers
Posted on Aug 9, 2009 12:04pm PDT
Yesterday, the United States government announced that it would resume accepting applications for
H-2B foreign visas. The H-2B visa was created for U.S. employers who were in need of foregin workers. The government decided to move forward with re-opening the plan after receiving fewer petitions from U.S. employers than it had previously anticipated.
Each year, the congressionally mandated H-2B visa cap is 66,000. However, this fiscal year, which ends on September 30th, the government only received 40,640 applications.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency said that, "because of the low visa issuance rate, [U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services] is reopening the filing period to allow employers to file additional petitions for qualified H-2B temporary foreign nonagricultural workers".
Under the H-2B program, U.S. employers are allowed to bring foreign workers into the country to fill temporary, nonagricultural positions. These types of positions currently have a shortage of workers, which is why the government is encouraging employers to file for visas. Many H-2B workers fill positions in construction, health care, landscaping, food service and hospitality industries. In the past, the number of H-2B applications have always surpassed the national cap of 66,000 visas.
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