H-2B Relief Included in Emergency Supplemental Bill

Congress has passed and the President has signed the Iraq/Afghanistan Supplemental Appropriations bill, which includes legislation sponsored by Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) that will ease the problems caused by the enforcement this year of the 66,000 cap on H-2B visas. The AHC strongly supported this provision that will allow the horse industry to continue to employ necessary foreign workers in non-agricultural positions.

The new provision, which was effective immediately, exempts from the cap for the next two years any foreign worker who has received a visa under the H-2B program in the three years previous.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service has begun processing H-2B visas again. USCIS stopped issuing H-2B visas on January 3 when the cap was reached. This left many employers, including some in the horse industry, without their usual foreign workers.

“This will benefit many employers in the horse industry who rely on the H-2B program to bring semi-skilled, alien workers into the U.S. for non-agricultural jobs. Many trainers, training facilities, horse shows and other service providers in the industry rely on these workers to fill jobs American don’t want,” said AHC President Jay Hickey.

The change exempts from the cap any alien who received an H-2B visa in the past three years, although an employer must certify that the worker received such a visa. The new provision applies for the next two fiscal years, which extends through September 30, 2006. “This is a temporary fix to a difficult problem,” said Hickey. “Comprehensive immigration reform is needed not only for these non-agricultural workers but also for those aliens who are admitted on H-2A agricultural visas to work at horse breeding farms.”

The AHC recommends that anyone in the industry who uses the H-2B program contact their attorneys or consultant to determine how the change may affect them, even if they received visas for this year. “Get prepared for next year now,” said Hickey.