H2-B visa program to be streamlined, simplified
The H2-B visa program allows foreign workers into the United States for specific seasonal jobs; the program is capped at 66,000 workers per year; regulatory changes in the waning days of the administration aim to set in place policies favored by the business sector
The U.S. government is set to make permanent its changes to a visa program that brings foreign workers to the United States for temporary nonagricultural work. AP reports that Labor Secretary Elaine Chao said yesterday that the aim is to streamline and simplify the application process and increase worker protections.
The H2-B visa program allows foreign workers into the United States for specific seasonal jobs, provided the employer cannot find Americans for the work and that the foreigners return home within ten months. Workers in the program must pass a background check and there are provisions to ensure they return home. The visa program is capped at 66,000 workers per year, and places workers mostly in landscaping, hospitality and other industries.
The changes include eliminating duplicative applications at the state and federal levels, requiring employers to attest — under the threat of fines and disbarment — that they are following all rules, and letting the government decide what workers should earn. Employers will be prohibited from passing along the cost of the new proposals to their workers, and the Labor Department, for the first time, will be able to enforce terms and conditions of temporary foreigner employment and fine violators.
DHS is currently responsible for enforcing these regulations, but the Labor Department has more expertise in the area, Chao said. The Labor Department also will become the final word on labor certification applications. The final changes will be in the Federal Register on Friday and go into effect mid-January.
The Labor Department first made public its plans to change the H2-B visa rules in May. Also to be published Friday are the department’s changes to H2-A visas, which are used by the agriculture industry to hire temporary farm workers.
Regulatory changes in the waning days of the Bush administration will make it harder for President-elect Barack Obama to change course on some policies favored by Republicans and businesses.
