H-2B Cap Reached for Second Half of Fiscal Year 2008
WASHINGTON, DC, January 4, 2008. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the maximum number of applications for H-2B seasonal workers for the second half of fiscal year 2008 had been received as of January 2, 2008.
The H-2B visa program provides employers with access to seasonal and temporary workers in situations when no American workers can be found. The number of H-2B visas is capped at 66,000 annually, with 33,000 reserved for the first half of the fiscal year (October through March) and the balance for the second half (April through September).
Employers spend considerable time, money and resources to try filling seasonal and temporary jobs with American workers. Despite this substantial investment, they are unable to find American workers for these jobs, and the H-2B program is a critical final option in providing us access to temporary seasonal workers. H-2B workers are a key component to operating during a hotel's peak season, supporting full-time Americans and allowing those full-time staff members to be employed year-round.
Congress recognizes the critical role the H-2B program fills for employers throughout the country and has overwhelmingly passed relief for the program in each of the past two years. That relief allowed returning H-2B workers who were prescreened and certified from counting toward the arbitrary cap.
Unfortunately, a group in Congress has blocked renewal of this policy this year because they would like to have comprehensive immigration reform enacted. They are using the widely supported bipartisan Save Our Small and Seasonal Business Act which would provide H-2B relief as leverage in an attempt to gain support for comprehensive immigration reform.
AH&LA has been a leader in pressing for relief in the past and will continue to call on Congress to renew H-2B relief that is vital to hoteliers throughout the country.
For more information, contact AH&LA Senior Vice President for Governmental Affairs Shawn McBurney at 202-289-3123 or smcburney@ahla.com.
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