Congress Fails to Extend H-2B Returning Worker Exemption
Monday, December 31, 2007
Contributed by: Nick Nevarez Jr.
On December 19th, Congress left Washington D.C. for the holiday break without extending the H-2B Returning Worker Exemption. This exemption ran out on Sept. 30, 2007, which is the end of the federal government's fiscal year.
Currently, the government caps the H-2B visa program at 66,000 workers a year. For the previous two fiscal years, Congress granted exemptions to returning H-2B workers allowing them to not count against the cap. The 2007 Save Small Business Bill proposes to continue this exemption.
The Department of Homeland Security announced in May 2007 that a nationwide cap of 33,000 H-2B workers for the first half of the fiscal year had been reached. The cap puts any further issuance of visas on hold until April 1, 2008, when 33,000 visas for the second half of the fiscal year will become available.
This column is published for informational purposes only. It should not be construed as legal advice and is not intended to create an attorney client relationship. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author's law firm or its individual partners.
