US immigration to accept further seasonal temporary work visa applications

August 10 2009 by Mark Johnstone

US temporary work visa changes

In a move that further highlights the effects of the recession on US immigration, officials have announced the reopening of the 2009 H-2B petition filing.

The reopening of the petition filing comes despite an announcement on 7 January 2009 that US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) had reached the congressionally mandated H-2B cap of 66,000 petitions.

Sectors set to benefit from the opportunity to file petitions for more overseas temporary people who work in the US include food processing businesses, the health care industry, construction companies and manufacturing firms. Many firms working within these industries have found themselves severely understaffed.

The surprise reopening came after the Department of State released the information that it had received just 40,640 petitions for the US visas which allow workers from overseas to work in the US on a temporary and seasonal basis.

USCIS says it cannot guarantee that the petitions will be processed and visas sent out before the 30 September 2009 deadline for the fiscal year 2009, due to the fact that they take an average of 60 days to process. The visas will be made available in the order in which the petitions are received.

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