The Department of Homeland Security’s Citizen and Immigration Services (CIS) Aug. 6 reopened the H-2B visa filing period for fiscal year 2009.
Although CIS announced that it had received enough petitions to meet the fiscal year 2009 mandated cap of 66,000 in January, only 40,640 H-2B visas have been issued so far, leaving more than 25,000 unused visas.
To qualify for an H-2B visa, the job must be temporary; it must last less than one year; and there must be no qualified U.S. workers available. In addition, employers must submit a petition along with all required documents and employees must have a start date before Oct. 1.
The new filing period for H-2B visas closes Sept. 30 and CIS must have received, evaluated and adjudicated acceptable petitions by that date. Applicants who wish to expedite the process can file a form I-907 and submit a $1,000 premium processing fee.
Petitions that are submitted to CIS after the deadline or have a start date on or after Oct. 1, will be considered for under the fiscal year 2010 H-2B visa program.
For more information, visit the
CIS website.