H2B working visa re-opened for 2009 - Atty. Mike Templo
ATTY. MIKE TEMPLO | 08/22/2009 5:58 PM
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H2B petitions are being accepted again for the 2009 fiscal year filing period, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Do not confuse this with the H1B working visa which is used for Professional-type, college graduate-level employment. Under the H2B program, US employers/petitioners are allowed to hire foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary nonagricultural jobs when there is a proven shortage of available US workers. The usual type of occupation that can be eligible for H2B visas include construction workers, teachers, professors, health care, landscapers, manufacturing work, food service/processing attendants, and resort/hospitality service providers.
The USCIS previously announced at the beginning of this year that they had already received an ample number of H2B petitions to meet the annual cap of 66,000. But to date, the Department of State has only issued about 40,640 H2B visas. There are still approximately unused 25,000. Because of this, the USCIS reopened the filing period for petitioners to apply for H2B qualified foreign temporary nonagricultural workers.
When filing the H2B petition, one tip is to file via “premium processing” by filing form I-907 and submitting the premium processing fee of $1,000 along with the I-129 petition. This is because the normal adjudication time frame for an H2B case is approximately 60 days and the USCIS will make visa numbers available to petitions based on the order in which they were filed. What you don’t want to happen is to miss on this second chance by filing via normal processing because these petitions must be properly filed and adjudicated on or before the deadline of the 2009 fiscal year of September 30, 2009.
Employers must be aware that to qualify for the fiscal year 2009 H-2B cap number, they must submit a duly accomplished Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker or Form I-129 to the proper USCIS Service Center with all the required supporting documents, an approved Alien Employment Certification from the Labor Department that is valid for the stated employment period on the petition. The start date indicated must be before Oct. 1, 2009.
If the H2B petition is received on or after October 1, 2009, and/or if you request a starting date on or after October 1, 2009, it will be considered for the following year’s cap and will be subject to all requirements for the 2010 fiscal year and a start date authorized on the temporary labor certification.
Atty. Michael Templo is an attorney admitted to practice law in New York State and Federal Courts and is a partner at Templo & Templo http://www.templolaw.com with offices in New York, USA and Makati City, Philippines. Atty. Templo specializes in US Immigration matters. Atty. Mike Templo is also a host for the weekly show “Crossing Borders” which airs every Thursday at 10:30PM on ANC and 2:30PM on TFC crossingborderstv.multiply.com. The discussion above is not intended as legal advice, and cannot be relied upon for any purpose without the services of a qualified professional. For your comments and questions, Atty. Templo can be reached at info@templolaw.com or log on to www.templolaw.com.
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