Every year nearly 400 temporary foreign workers arrive, mostly crab pickers, they are hired to work on some the secluded Chesapeake Bay islands’ seafood processing plants! These seasonal workers, which are mostly from Mexico came to Maryland’s Eastern Shore as part of the H-2B visa nonimmigrant program!
For further details please review the Baltimore Sun’s News Article, “‘I’m not here to take anyone’s job’: Mexican crab pickers quietly work in Maryland as immigration debate rages”.
Background:
USCIS announced that it has received a sufficient number of H-2B petitions to reach the congressionally mandated cap (33,000) for the second half of FY 2019. February 19, 2019 is now the “final receipt date” for cap-subject H-2B worker requesting employment start dates before October 1, 2019. The “final receipt date” is the date on which USCIS determined that it has received enough cap-subject petitions to reach the limit of 33,000 H-2B workers for the second half of FY2019, for a total of 66,000 for the year.
USCIS will reject new H-2B petitions that were received after February 19, 2019 and that request an employment start date before October 1, 2019, but there are some exceptions!
The exceptions are listed below:
USCIS announced that it has received a sufficient number of H-2B petitions to reach the congressionally mandated cap (33,000) for the first half of FY 2019. December 6, 2018 is now the “final receipt date” for cap-subject H-2B worker requesting employment start dates before April 1, 2019. The “final receipt date” is the date on which USCIS determined that it has received enough cap-subject petitions to reach the limit of 33,000 H-2B workers for the first half of FY2019.
USCIS will reject new H-2B petitions that were received after December 6, 2018 and that request an employment start date before April 1, 2019, but there are some exceptions!
The exceptions are listed below:
USCIS announced on Wednesday, June 6, 2018, that because of the large amount of petitions received in the first five business days, they will be using a computer-generated lottery to randomly select petitions for the temporary increase in H-2B visas for fiscal year (FY) 2018. Under a temporary rule, USCIS increased the H-2B cap by up to 15,000 additional visas for FY 2018. All H-2B cap-subject petitions received by the USCIS between May 31st and June 6th will be included in the lottery.
For more detailed information about this subject please review the USCIS News Alert, “USCIS to Conduct Lottery for Temporary Increase in FY 2018 H-2B Cap“.
Source of Information:
The Office of Foreign Labor Certification’s (OFLC) will be holding a Webinar on Tuesday, April 3, 2018 between 1:00 to 3:00 pm (EST). The subject of the event will be H-2B surveyor concepts and general filing tips. The first hour of the Webinar will focus on Concepts for Surveyors and the second hour will focus on general filing tips.
Event Information:
DATE: Tuesday, April 3, 2018
H-2B Cap Count for FY 2018 has been reached – “USCIS Completes Random Selection Process for H-2B Visa Cap for Second Half of FY 2018“
The H-2B non-agricultural temporary worker program allows U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary non-agricultural jobs. There is a cap limit of 33,000 for the first half of the fiscal year and 33,000 for the second half for a total of 66,000 per year. If the cap is not reached during the first half of the fiscal year, the extra numbers are then made available for the second half.
The H-2B cap limit for first half of FY 2018 (October 1 – March 31) is 33,000. On 12/15/17, the cap for the 1st half of FY 2018 was reached, with the 33,000 total beneficiaries and date of the last count was 12/19/17.
On Tuesday, December 21, 2017, USCIS announced that it has received a sufficient number of H-2B petitions to reach the congressionally mandated cap (33,000) for the first half of FY 2018. December 15, 2017 is now the “final receipt date” for cap-subject H-2B worker requesting employment start dates before April 1, 2018. The “final receipt date” is the date on which USCIS determined that it has received enough cap-subject petitions to reach the limit of 33,000 H-2B workers for the first half of FY2018.
USCIS will reject new H-2B petitions that were received after December 15, 2017 and that request an employment start date before April 1, 2018, but there are some exceptions!
The exceptions are listed below:
The H-2B non-agricultural temporary worker program allows U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary non-agricultural jobs. There is a cap limit of 33,000 for the first half of the fiscal year and 33,000 for the second half for a total of 66,000 per year. If the cap is not reached during the first half of the fiscal year, the extra numbers are then made available for the second half.
The H-2B cap limit for first half of FY 2018 (October 1 – March 31) is 33,000. As of the last count (12/11/17); 19,903 beneficiaries have been approved and 7,063 are pending for a total of 26,966.
The H-2B cap limit for second half of FY 2018 (April 1 – September 30) is 33,000. As of the last count (12/11/17); 0 beneficiaries have been approved and 0 are pending for a total of 0.
The H-2B non-agricultural temporary worker program allows U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary non-agricultural jobs. There is a cap limit of 33,000 for the first half of the fiscal year and 33,000 for the second half for a total of 66,000 per year. If the cap is not reached during the first half of the fiscal year, the extra numbers are then made available for the second half.
The H-2B cap limit for first half of FY 2018 (October 1 – March 31) is 33,000. As of the last count (11/28/17); 17,290 beneficiaries have been approved and 4,914 are pending for a total of 22,204.
The H-2B cap limit for second half of FY 2018 (April 1 – September 30) is 33,000. As of the last count (11/28/17); 0 beneficiaries have been approved and 0 are pending for a total of 0.
The H-2B non-agricultural temporary worker program allows U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary non-agricultural jobs. There is a cap limit of 33,000 for the first half of the fiscal year and 33,000 for the second half for a total of 66,000 per year. If the cap is not reached during the first half of the fiscal year, the extra numbers are then made available for the second half.
The H-2B cap limit for first half of FY 2018 (October 1 – March 31) is 33,000. As of the last count (11/14/17); 15,213 beneficiaries have been approved and 3,453 are pending for a total of 18,666.
The H-2B cap limit for second half of FY 2018 (April 1 – September 30) is 33,000. As of the last count (11/14/17); 0 beneficiaries have been approved and 0 are pending for a total of 0.
H1B Visa Lawyer Blog