Congress Passes H-2B Visa Relief
By the American Horse Council

WASHINGTON (May 10, 2005) -- Congress has passed and sent to the President the Iraq/Afghanistan Supplemental Appropriations bill. The President is expected to sign it immediately.

This bill 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 new provision, which is effective immediately, will exempt 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. This should benefit many employers in the horse industry who rely on the H-2B program to bring semi-skilled workers into the U.S. for non-agricultural jobs. Each year many trainers, training facilities, horse shows and other service providers in the industry rely on these workers to fill jobs American don’t want.

The new provision will allow the processing of H-2B visas to proceed as follows.

Employers may begin filing H-2B visa petitions once the legislation is signed by the President. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service is expected to issue instructions on filing these applications very quickly.

An alien who received an H-2B visa in any one of the past three years is exempt from the cap, although an employer must certify that the worker received such a visa.

The change applies for the next two years, fiscal years 2005 and 2006.

Beginning in FY 2006, which starts October 1, 2005, half of the 66,000 regular H-2B visas will be issued for the first part of the year and half will be issued for the second part, starting April 1, 2006. This does not apply to repeat H-2B workers.

There is a new $150 “anti-fraud” fee per employer per petition.

Those who use the H-2B program should contact their attorneys or consultant to determine how the change may affect them, even if they received visas for this year. Be prepared for next year.