Here’s Where Non-Attorney H-2B Visa Facilitators Fall Flat

With a statutory annual cap of 66,000, competition for securing available H-2B visas is ever present. According to data from the U.S. Department of Labor, the top H-2B occupation in recent years has been landscaping and groundskeeping—37.1% of all H-2B visas issued in 2022 went to temporary foreign workers in that industry.

Anyone who runs or owns a landscaping business that relies on guest workers is not only competing against thousands of other companies petitioning to secure H-2B visas, but in fierce competition with industry competitors. When the stakes are that high for supporting the goals and growth of your business, you want to ensure you are optimizing and protecting your time, money and other resources.

Hiring an attorney to support your H-2B seasonal workforce sponsorships is the only way to guarantee better resource protection. Here’s why:

While it’s nice to have someone who can get you through the basics of the H-2B visa registration and application process (i.e. a non-attorney visa facilitator), it’s even better to rely on someone who can navigate the process and offer counsel on H-2B challenges.

The number one issue we see when businesses hire non-attorney visa facilitators occurs when visa petitions are denied or an unexpected circumstance comes up. When that happens, business owners are forced to turn to lawyers to remedy the situation and usually end up spending three times as much as they would have if they had hired an attorney to begin with.

Immigration attorneys are experts in managing cases that withstand scrutiny. They are also trained to anticipate and react to potential and unforeseen challenges in legal proceedings—such as delays or rejections—including in the H-2B visa application process.

Risk Exposure Skyrockets When Non-Lawyers Administer Legal Documents

The H-2B program is administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), two of the most important agencies of the federal government. For something as important as submitting a signed, sworn document to the federal government that carries lifelong implications for both your business and your temporary workers, you don’t want to cut corners.

In securing a by-the-book approach to the H-2B visa application process, attorneys can mitigate your landscaping business’ potential risk of later enforcement. For example, under certain circumstances, approved certifications can be revoked and employers can be barred from receiving future H-2B certifications. You don’t want to find yourself the subject of investigations, inspections or law enforcement actions that can impose penalties or other serious legal consequences for your landscaping business.

While straightforward transactions can be handled without a law degree, employment law counsel can’t be.

Once H-2B visas are secured, employers must be acutely aware of wage requirements and certain responsibilities they have toward guest workers, including covering their transportation and visa costs. Businesses using H-2B workers are also subject to compliance requirements set by the DHS and DOL to ensure seasonal workers are meeting the terms and conditions of their nonimmigrant stay. Attorneys can proactively manage regulatory challenges and offer advice to businesses for staying in compliance when leveraging temporary foreign workers.

Nine months, 10 days, three consecutive years, peak-load, one-time occurrence, three months, a seasonal need, one year, the near definable future—these are just a few of the specific timeframes associated with H-2B visas and extensions governed by the DHS and DOL. Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone manage all of those timelines for you and concurrently strategize to secure uninterrupted seasonal worker visas for your business?

When you hire an attorney, you guarantee there is someone in your corner advocating for your current seasonal workforce’s employment eligibility and extension of stay in the U.S. The support for ongoing strategy to ensure uninterrupted H-2B visa is a primary benefit of using an immigration and employment attorney over a non-attorney visa facilitator for your business’ H-2B visa sponsorship needs.

Schedule a consultation with one of our attorneys today to learn more about H-2B eligibility, the visa application and extension process, and our strategic approach to ensuring consistent access to H-2B visas.