Latin American workers, including Ecuadorians, have the possibility of applying for agricultural and non-agricultural jobs during the second semester of 2022.
To get job legally in United States It is not necessary to be a professional or have several years of experience in a specific field. It is enough to want to work to be a candidate of the thousands of temporary worker visas that the country offers in sectors agricultural and non-agricultural. Those visas are known as H-2A and H-2B.
It is true that you need a sponsorthat is, a company that hires you, but the opportunities have expanded in recent days
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) announced on March 31, 2022 that there is the availability of an additional 35,000 H-2B visas for temporary non-agricultural workers during the second half of the year.
Are additional visas can be requested by US employers from April 1, 2022 through September 30, 2022.
“Informed by the current demand in the labor market, today we announce the availability of an additional 35,000 H-2B visas that will help support American businesses and expand legal avenues for workers seeking to come to the United States. United States”, said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas.
How to find available vacancies in the US?
United States It is currently experiencing a labor shortage, which has characterized the economic recovery after the first blow of the pandemic.
In February 2022, that country had 11.3 million vacancies to cover, but only 6.7 million contracts were made. Economists believe that it will take time for this mismatch between the demand and supply of job decrease. Meanwhile, wages are rising as companies compete to attract and hire staff.
Of the additional visas available23,500 of these visas are for workers returning to temporary work at USA under a visa H-2B or for those who were granted the status H-2B during one of the last three years.
Another 11,500 visas are reserved for all types of Latin American citizens.
Unlike the H-2A visasthe H-2B visas they are usually subject to an annual limit determined by Congress, which is currently 66,000 workers per year.
However, the DHS and DOL have increased the ceiling a couple of times in order to “ensure that American businesses are equipped with the necessary resources to successfully recover and contribute to the economic health of local communities,” it said. the DHS.
For example, in January 2022 they announced the availability of 20,000 H-2B visas for temporary non-agricultural workers.
What are H-2 visas?
Every year, United States awards thousands of H-2 visas workers with or without experience (non-professionals and without an academic degree) to work temporarily in the country. This category is divided into two types of visas: the H-2A for farm workers and the H-2B for non-agricultural workers.
In 2021, USA awarded a total of 97,268 H-2B visasoccupied mostly by seafood processors, gardeners and forestry workers.
Countries whose citizens received a greater number of H-2B visas They were Mexico with 73.6%, followed by Jamaica with 9.2% and Guatemala with 3.5%, according to a report by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS).
In November 2021, an updated list of countries eligible for this type of visa was released. Among the main Latin American countries are: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, EcuadorDominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay
“The programs of H-2A and H-2B visas allow US employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill positions in agricultural and non-agricultural employment, respectively,” USCIS said in a news release.
How to apply for an H-2B visa?
The petitioner or employer must demonstrate that there are not enough U.S. workers who are “able, willing, available, and qualified to perform the temporary work”
Employ workers under the H-2B visa it must not adversely affect US workers employed in similar tasks, and the work of the candidate workers must be of a temporary nature. USCIS considers temporary if a job:
1.- Occurs only once: a petitioner argues that the need occurs only once and demonstrates that he has not previously hired workers to perform the service and will not need them in the future, or that it is a situation of job permanent but a temporary or short-term event created a need for a temporary worker.
2.- It is seasonal: the service or job for which you are seeking workers is related to an event or pattern of events of a recurring nature.
In a nutshell, the application process for the program H2-Bis the following:
The petitioner files a DOL Temporary Employment Certification for Foreign Labor application; in addition to Form I-129 before USCIS.
Candidate workers who are out of USA must request the H-2B visa at a US embassy or consulate abroad and then apply for admission at a port of entry. To the appointment they must bring a valid passport, a valid petition number (found in the job offer) and proof of payment of the visa application of US$ 190.
The maximum period of stay is 3 years. After 3 years, the beneficiaries of the H-2B visas they must leave USA for a period of 3 uninterrupted months before applying for readmission under the same type of visa. (JS)
