The H2B Visa is for people who are looking for temporary and seasonal jobs in the US. Industries that rely on seasonal workers like seafood, hospitality, cruise ships etc. hire workers on the H2B Visa. The H2B Visa Program gives access to non-agricultural industries in the US access to immigrant labour.
The seafood industry often struggles with a labour shortage. Seafood processors often find it challenging to find enough American workers to meet their workforce needs.
2020 brings good news for the seafood industry in the US as the Dept. of Homeland Security plans to bring in 45,000 more seasonal workers on the H2B Visa.
The annual cap for the H2B seasonal worker program is 66,000. Congress permits the DHS to increase the cap by another 64,000.
However, in the first two years of the Trump Government’s tenure, the H2B cap was only raised by 15,000. In 2019 the annual H2B cap was increased by 30,000 bringing in 96,000 seasonal workers into the US.
DHS is yet to decide on when to increase the annual cap for the current fiscal year.
The established annual cap of 66,000 is split between the first and second half of a fiscal year that begins on 1st October. 20,000 Visas are available immediately, while the rest will be available from 1st June.
Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin of Maryland and Senator Mark Warner of Virginia issued a joint statement on 27th February. They said that they had participated in a call with Chad Wolf, Acting Secretary of DHS. These US Senators represent states that have many seafood processors. The extra Visas will help significantly boost the economies of these states.
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