Do you want to work legally in the United States?DHS announces the availability of 20,000 additional H-2b visas
(Spanish CNN) - To legally work in the United States, you don't need to be professional or have vast experience in a specific field.Just want to work and take advantage of the thousands of temporary worker visas offered by the country for agricultural and non-agricultural work, known as H-2A and H-2B visas.
And while you need a sponsor (a company) that hires you - you can not request individually - here is good news:
The National Security Department (DHS) announced on January 27 the availability of 20.000 additional H-2B visas for non-agricultural temporary workers for the first half of fiscal year 2022.These additional visas can be requested by American employers as of January 28
"DHS is taking measures to address the needs of our economy by making 20,000 additional H-2B visas available to workers," said National Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in a press release.
publicidadHowever, 13.500 of these visas are available for workers who return to temporary jobs to the US.UU.Under an H-2B visa or for those who were granted H-2B status during one of the last three fiscal years, 6.500 remaining visas are reserved for citizens of Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
Unlike H-2A visas, H-2B visas are usually subject to an annual limit determined by the Congress that is currently 66.000 workers per year.
However, the Department of National Security (DHS) and the US Department of Labor (DOL).UU.They have increased the maximum limit on a couple of occasions in order to "ensure that US companies are equipped with the necessary resources to recover successfully and contribute to the economic health of local communities," said the DHS.
What are H-2 visas?
Fresh Harvest agricultural workers who work with an H-2A visa harvest Roman lettuce in a machine with heavy plastic divisors that separate workers from each other on April 27, 2020 in Greenfield, California.(Photo of Brent Stirton/Getty Images)
Every year, the United States gives thousands of H-2 visas to workers with or without experience (not professionals and without an academic degree) to temporarily work in the country.This category is divided into two types of visas: H-2A for agricultural workers and H-2B for non-agricultural workers.
In 2020, EE.UU.granted a total of 65.716 H-2B visas, mostly occupied by gardeners, forest workers and meat cutters.
The countries whose citizens received a greater number of H-2B visas were Mexico with 74.7%, followed by Jamaica with 8.9%and Guatemala with 2.7%, according to a report of the citizenship and immigration service ofUnited States (USCIS).
Participating countries
In November, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced an updated list of countries eligible for this type of visas, "whose nationals are eligible to participate in the programs".That is, if you are originally from any of the following countries on the list you can request these visas to work in fiscal year 2022.
"Visa H-2A and H-2B programs allow US employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to occupy positions in agricultural and non-agricultural jobs, respectively," said USCIS in a press release.
Citizens of these Latin American countries (there are also other countries in the world) are eligible to request H-2A and H-2B visas.
To see other countries in the world, you can see the list here.
How to request an H-2B visa?
The petitioner or employer must demonstrate that there are not enough US workers who are "trained, willing, available and qualified to perform temporal work".
Using workers under the H-2B visa should not adversely affect US workers employed in similar tasks, and the work of candidate workers must be temporary.The USCIS considers it temporary if a job:
Broadly speaking, the application process to the H2-B program is as follows:
How long can I work in the US.UU.With an H2-B visa?
The maximum stay period is 3 years.After 3 years, the beneficiaries of the H-2B visas must leave the US.UU.For a period of 3 months uninterrupted before requesting readmission under the same type of visa.
The H-2B visa is granted for a period of one year, although this can be requested for up to one year.The extension request must be submitted before expiration and workers may remain in the US.UU.during the extension process.
Workers who receive extension do not have to process a new visa, as long as they do not leave the US.UU., and in case of returning to their country of origin, they must request a new visa before re -entering the North American country.
- With information from Alejandra Ramos de CNN in Spanish.
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