Temporary guestworker visas for the fall and winter season have all been claimed, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Dec. 12.
Businesses had until Dec. 6 to submit H-2B worker petitions for employment start dates before April 1, 2019, and the agency held a lottery Dec. 11, meeting the 33,000-visa cap. The H-2B visa program is designed for nonagricultural, seasonal work. There is an annual visa cap of 66,000 H-2B visas per year, and demand has steadily grown for foreign seasonal workers.
Fall and winter seasonal employers are typically less pinched in obtaining H-2B worker visas, however, because there are ...