The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Labor announced on December 20 the upcoming publication of a joint interim final rule to provide an additional 20,000 H-2B visas for the first half of fiscal year 2022 ending. ends March 31, 2022, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association reported Monday. This is the first time that DHS has offered additional H-2B visas in the first half of the fiscal year.
“Extremely high demand for H-2B visas has led to an unprecedented move by the DHS and DOL,” said NTRA president and CEO, Alex Waldrop. “Competition for these visas has been fierce for years but is especially so in today’s strong job market. We encourage affected trainers to act quickly.”
The additional H-2B visa allocation includes 13,500 visas for returning workers who received an H-2B visa, or were granted H-2B status, in one of the three recent fiscal years. via. The remaining 6,500 visas, which are exempt from the return to work requirement, are for citizens of Haiti and the Northern Triangle countries of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.
This nonimmigrant visa program is used by many industries that need temporary non-farm assistance when domestic workers are not available. Currently, Congress has set the H-2B cap at 66,000 per fiscal year, with 33,000 for workers entering employment during the first half of the fiscal year (October 1 to March 31). and 33,000 for workers starting work in the second half of the fiscal year. of the financial year (April 1 to September 30).
As for the horse racing industry, racehorse trainers primarily rely on the H-2B program to fill various back-office positions. Demand for H-2B visas often exceeds availability and limits are quickly reached, leaving employers with insufficient assistance.
