Many landscaping companies make a practice of supplementing their labor workforce with seasonal workers to keep business running smoothly and remain competitive. However, a shortage of American workers looking to fill industry trade jobs, like those in landscaping, has redirected many employers to leverage the U.S. H-2B temporary visa program.
Securing guest worker visas, specifically H-2B visas, allows participating landscape services employers to sponsor foreign nationals to work for them for a temporary period, but the high demand and limited supply has made consistent access to H-2B visas difficult. If your landscaping company relies on H-2B visas to supplement your seasonal or peak-load workforce, there are several things you must keep in mind to ensure consistent H-2B visa access year after year.
Manage the H-2B Visa Timeline
Each year, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) releases a total of 66,000 H-2B visas. Those visas arrive in two waves: 33,000 H-2B visas are issued for foreign workers with employment dates between October 1 and March 31 for the first half of the fiscal year, and 33,000 visas are issued for foreign workers with employment dates between April 1 – September 30 for the second half of the fiscal year.
It is important to begin planning to file for the H-2B process early. Getting started on forecasting for your workforce needs, identifying the seasonal workers you’ll seek to secure temporary employment visas for, filing your prevailing wage request and temporary labor certification, and beginning to draft visa applications should all happen at least twelve weeks before the desired employment start date.
Be Mindful of H-2B Lottery Nuances
applications. Effectively, the USCIS lottery system plays a role in which applications get processed first as petitions are randomly assigned into groups (Group A, B, C, D, E, etc.).
For landscaping employers who treat their returning H-2B seasonal workers as existing employees and/or routinely sponsor the same group of employees year after year, the random lottery system for visa allocation can pose an obstacle to consistent H-2B visa access. There are a few points of strategy to keep in mind when it comes to navigating the random lottery system:
- Petitions seeking seasonal workers to begin work on the earliest start date of work permitted and filed in a timely manner (that is, during the initial three-day filing window) are typically reviewed for processing first.
- Each H-2B assignment group after Group A (Group B, Group C, etc.) will total no more than 20,000 worker positions, or roughly 1,000 applications per group.
- While there is no guarantee that your petition will ultimately be reviewed by an analyst, the only way to ensure that it is accepted upon review is by meeting all of the application and timeline requirements
Secure Supplemental H-2B Visas
Due to high demand for H-2B visas, the USCIS has issued additional visas (beyond the cap) over the past several years. During each fiscal year since 2017, Congress has authorized the admission of increased numbers of H-2B workers, while leaving the statutory annual 66,000 limit in place.
To leverage these additional visas, your company should plan for the following:
- Monitor USCIS activity and news to know when additional visas will be issued, the associated petition periods for securing them and the start date of employment.
- Understand the requirements of filing for supplemental visas, including for returning workers, workers from specific countries, recruitment steps and timelines.
The H-2B visa program is subject to detailed recruitment and other requirements as well as statutory and regulatory provisions that govern each program. Our immigration team at KJ Partners has been actively engaged in representing H-2B employers for over 10 years.
Schedule a consultation with one of our experts today to learn more about H-2B eligibility, the visa application and extension process, and our strategic approach to helping your business.