OPINION/COLUMN-US VISA | Adding temporary work visas yearly becoming permanent: MIGRANT MATTERS
LOOKING at a job offer attached to a news clipping he received via email, Tony had mixed emotions: whether the job offer was as genuine as the news report.
Using Google on his mobile, Tony — a maintenance mechanic — typed “65,000 working visas USA.” He sorted out the search results and picked the official source from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) titled “Temporary Increase in H-2B Nonimmigrant Visas for FY 2025.”
Turning next to the email Tony checked the name of the “agency” with the list of licensed recruitment agencies with the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW). The “agency” does not show up on the search.
Using “jobsite” as his search parameter with DMW, he found several listings of maintenance mechanics — and the licensed agency with a specific number of job orders.
The “65,000 visas for temporary workers needed in the US” is genuine. The email from the “agency” was not.
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He also had been reading up on the immigration developments in the US. The clamor to “deport millions of illegal aliens on Day 1, and reserve jobs for Americans” only appears to be contradictory — a paradox.
Shortage of workers in the US?
The US Chamber of Commerce echoes their members’ concern that “companies of every size and industry, across nearly every state … are facing unprecedented challenges trying to find enough workers to fill open jobs. Right now, the latest data shows that we have 8 million job openings in the US but only 6.8 million unemployed workers.”
“America has “a lot of jobs but not enough workers to fill them. If every unemployed person in the country found a job, we would still have millions of open jobs,” Stephanie Ferguson Melhorn, senior director of workforce and international labor policy at the US Chamber of Commerce, confirms.
What law provides for temporary workers
Currently, Congress has set the regular H-2B cap at 66,000 per fiscal year, with 33,000 for workers to begin employment in the first half of the fiscal year (Oct. 1-March 31) and 33,000 for workers for the second half from April-Sept. 30.
Any unused numbers from the first half of the fiscal year will be available for employers seeking to hire H-2B workers during the second half of the fiscal year. However, unused H-2B from a fiscal year do not carry over into the next,
What reality dictates
Additional visas are needed “to protect American businesses, not US workers,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said, since there are more jobs than available, willing and able American applicants.
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Since 2017, the DHS has been announcing supplemental temporary work visas (on top of the regular 66,000 H-2B work visas.
The latest announcement of the 64,716 supplemental H-2B visas — in addition to the 66,000 annual allocations — issued a day before Thanksgiving 2024 is aimed at US employers unable to find US workers who are available, willing, and qualified to do the temporary work in industries such as hospitality and tourism, landscaping, seafood processing, and many other sectors.”
Job growth projections
Apparently, even if “the US economy grows 0.4 percent annually according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Aug. 29, 2024 report — Employment Projections — 2023-2024, the US still needs millions of workers.
But where are they?
The US is facing a demographic debacle.
“Propelled by falling birth rates, the US population is rapidly aging and steadily declining. In turn, the country is experiencing economic and social pressures caused by labor shortages. Fortunately, the regular influx of working-age immigrants has helped the US slightly alleviate this challenge. However, the country must increase its annual immigration levels to reach its full potential … and prevent the US from falling into demographic deficit and socioeconomic decline.” This is from a 2021 white paper by the National Immigration Forum (NIF).
How to check legitimate job offers for H-2B visas
The first line of defense against fraudulent job offers is the listing of approved job orders from the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) — https://dmw.gov.ph/approved-job-orders — which Tony checked.
The listed jobs from licensed recruitment agencies have been verified by labor attaches before being sent to DMW for publication.
The USCIS announced on Sept. 18, 2024, that it has “received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated cap on H-2B visas for temporary nonagricultural workers for the first half of fiscal year 2025. Sept. 18, 2024, was the final receipt date for new cap-subject H-2B worker petitions requesting an employment start date before April 1, 2025.”
The USCIS may have received “enough petitions for the first half batch” but not all would be approved. Unused numbers would be available for use during the second half of the fiscal year.
Tony is hopeful that he could be part of the second batch of the regular 66,000 H-2B workers for 2025 (or workers who begin employment in the second half of the fiscal year (April 1-Sept. 30).
If not, he would be looking forward to the next supplemental visas in 2026 since the additional visas for temporary workers have been a yearly occurrence.
Or the regular 66,000 H-2B visas in 2027.
Once in the US on an H-2B visa, Tony will no longer be subject to the cap.
Generally, workers in the United States in H-2B status who extend their stay, change employers, or change the terms and conditions of employment will not be subject to the cap.
If he proves his worth to an employer, Tony may be eligible to apply for an immigrant visa under the 3rd Employment-based category.
Then, his family may join him as immigrants, derivative beneficiaries of workers that the US needs.
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THE EDITOR
