H-2B Visa

H-2B Temporary Nonagricultural Work

Overview. The H-2B classification lets a United States employer fill a temporary nonagricultural job with a foreign worker when qualified United States workers are not available and the employment will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed United States workers. The category is created by INA 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(b), 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(b), and is implemented by the Department of Homeland Security at 8 CFR 214.2(h)(6) and by the Department of Labor at 20 CFR part 655, subpart A.

Extensions of Stay Filed Late: When the Delay May Be Excused

The requirement this page qualifies. A request to extend a nonimmigrant stay must ordinarily be filed before the previously authorized period expires, and by or for a person who has maintained the classification. An extension or amendment of stay may not be approved where the person failed to maintain the previously accorded status, or where that status expired before the request was filed. The same provision, however, allows the lateness of the filing to be excused. 8 C.F.R. 214.1(c)(4)(i).

Extension of Stay

What this part of the handbook covers. An extension of stay is a request to remain in the United States longer in a nonimmigrant classification that a person already holds. It is decided by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on a request filed inside the country, and the general framework appears at 8 C.F.R. 214.1(c). This page sets out that framework. The page beneath it deals with the narrower problem of a request filed after the authorized stay has already expired.

By Editorial Team , 18 October 2006

NEW H-2B LAW signed by President Exempts individuals from H-2B Quota who already obtained an H-2B in certain past years.

On 10/17/06, President Bush signed a law (Section 1074 of H.R. 5122) which exempts individuals from the H-2B QUOTA for the 2007 fiscal year (October 1, 2006 to September 30, 2007) who obtained H-2B's in certain past years. Specifically, to be exempt, individuals must have obtained an H-2B in one of the following fiscal years: 2004, 2005, or 2006. Those individuals who are exempt under this provision may be able to obtain an H-2B extension which takes effect beginning October 1, 2006.

Section 1074 reads as follows: