In a move that could help ease the chronic shortage of construction workers, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that it will issue an additional 35,000 H-2B guest worker visas for the summer season.
Why It Matters
H-2B visas allow employers to hire foreign workers to come temporarily to the United States and perform temporary non-agricultural services or labor — including construction work — on a one-time, seasonal, peakload or intermittent basis.
Given the chronic labor shortages facing the home building industry, NAHB has been urging both Congress and DHS to expand the number of H-2B visas available each year, including restoring an exemption for returning H-2B workers from counting toward the program’s annual statutory cap.
The supplemental 35,000 visas will generally be limited to returning workers, and 10,000 are specifically designated for workers from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
View the Department of Homeland Security
news release.
For more information, visit
nahb.org or contact
Alexis Moch at 800-368-5242 x8407.
