Overview: The H-2B(non-agricultural temporary worker program) allows U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary nonagricultural jobs.

H-2B visa is for non-agricultural temporary worker, different from H-2A Visa for temporary agricultural workers.

Period of Stay: initial stay of no more than 1 year, could be extended in increments of 1 year. The maximum period of stay is 3 years.

Family: Spouse and unmarried children under 21 years of age could apply for H-4 non-immigrant visa. They do not have work authorization under H-4 status.

Green Card Intent: Dual Intent is not permitted. A foreign worker in H-2B nonimmigrant status for 3 years is required to depart and remain outside the United States for an uninterrupted period of 3 months.

Statistics: In fiscal year 2010, USCIS received 63,588 applications for H-2B visa, approved 47,403 of them, and denied 16,185, waived or overcome 5,324.

H2-B Visa Cap
Currently, the H-2B cap set by Congress is 66,000 per fiscal year, with 33,000 to be allocated for employment beginning in the 1st half of the fiscal year and 33,000 to be allocated for employment beginning in the 2nd half of the fiscal year. Any unused numbers from the first half of the fiscal year will be made available for use by employers seeking to hire H-2B workers during the second half of the fiscal year. There is no "carry over" of unused H-2B numbers from one fiscal year to the next.

H2-B Visa Cap Exemption

• Fish roe processors, fish roe technicians and/or supervisors of fish roe processing
• Workers performing labor or services in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and/or Guam(11/28/2009-12/1/2014)

H-2B Visa extension and the spouse and children of H-2B workers holding H4 visa are not counted against H-2B Visa cap.

H-2B Program Process

1. Employer Submits Temporary Labor Certification Application to the Department of Labor.
2. Employer Submits Form I-129 to USCIS.
3. Prospective Workers Outside the United States Apply for Visa and/or Admission.

Employer
Job Title:
Work City:
Work State:	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Attorney:
Case Number:
Status	Certified Denied Partial Certified
Calendar Year:	All 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999

H-2B Visa Qualification

1. The employer must establish that its need for the prospective worker’s services or labor is temporary, regardless of whether the underlying job can be described as permanent or temporary.
2. The employer must demonstrate that there are not sufficient U.S. workers who are able, willing, qualified, and available to do the temporary work.
3. The employer must show that the employment of H-2B workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers.

H-2B Visa Eligible Countries List
H-2B Visa program has the same list of eligible country list as H-2A program.

Effective Jan. 18, 2011, DHS and Dept. of State published on Federal Register that the nationals from the following countries are eligible to participate in the H-2A and H-2B programs: Argentina, Australia, Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Kiribati, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Mexico, Moldova, Nauru, The Netherlands, Nicaragua, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Samoa, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Korea, Tonga, Turkey, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, and Vanuatu. Of these countries, the following were designated for the first time this year: Barbados, Estonia, Fiji, Hungary, Kiribati, Latvia, Macedonia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

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