This year was supposed to be different. After a pandemic, racial unrest, supply chain issues and more, 2022 was to be the year things began to normalize. But then, Russia declared war on Ukraine, inflation – climbing at a 40-year high – didn’t recede as predicted, and today everything costs more than it did a…
Read More »As the labor shortage continues unabated, notwithstanding record low unemployment rates, efforts are underway to increase the limit on H-2B Visas. Along with others, the Travel Industry is urging the Biden administration to raise the cap following news early this month that the limit for the second half of the current fiscal year (FY22) had…
Read More »Earlier this week, President Trump made good on his promise and signed an Executive Order suspending the H-2B Visa program through the balance of the calendar year, but he also provided exemptions for workers in food supply chains and workers whose entry is deemed in the national interest. The suspension, which also includes the H-1B…
Read More »In a budget hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee subcommittee on Homeland Security this week, Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf reported that a decision on raising the cap for the temporary non-agricultural guest worker H-2B visa program will be made “very shortly.” The H-2B program is currently capped at 66,000 visas issued…
Read More »On Wednesday of this week, the US Department of Labor (DOL) released the final rule that rescinds newspaper advertising requirements for employers seeking to hire H-2B workers. The final rule, which is being published in the Federal Register today, won’t replace the existing requirement that employers place print advertisements with one that requires employers to…
Read More »In an obvious nod to the expanding economy and the exceedingly tight labor market, the Trump administration will make an additional 30,000 H-2B visas available through September. In press releases and letters announced by several Senators and Representatives from both sides of the aisle, the H-2B program will see available visas nearly double what has…
Read More »A bipartisan group of 11 US Senators are advocating that the Trump administration increase, yet again – this time, doubling – the number of H-2B visas available for the current fiscal year. Maine’s two Senators, Republican Susan Collins and Independent Angus King, wrote a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) urging DHS Secretary…
Read More »Earlier this week, the US Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it was altering the procedure by which H-2B Visa applications will be processed. The change results from the system crash that DOL experienced early in January when the flood of H-2B visa applications overwhelmed and crashed their system. Going forward, all applications filed on…
Read More »DOL’s problems of late aren’t limited to their inability to meeting their regulatory goals. The Department’s computer system to handle applications for temporary work visas (H-2B Visas) crashed earlier this week in the face of unprecedented demand. According to the DOL Employment and Training Administration, just under 100,000 foreign workers applied for the 33,000 visas…
Read More »The Department of Homeland Security ended the speculation this week when it announced the issuance of an additional 15,000 H-2B visas for temporary foreign workers in seasonal non-agricultural sectors. Although Congress had authorized the government to more than double the 66,000 H-2B visa limit, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly decided not to go anywhere near…
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