The H-2B Visa for Temporary Foreign Workers

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The H-2B visa program lets American businesses hire foreign workers for temporary, non-agricultural jobs. It serves as a pressure valve for seasonal industries facing labor shortages, but it’s also at the center of an ongoing debate over its impact on American jobs, wages, and worker protections.

This guide explains the H-2B program, from its legal foundations and complex application process to its economic role and ongoing reform efforts.

Understanding the H Visa Categories

The U.S. government offers several temporary worker visas, often identified by letters and numbers corresponding to sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Understanding the distinctions between H-2B, H-2A, and H-1B visas is crucial to grasping the role each plays in the U.S. economy.

What the H-2B Visa Covers

The H-2B is a nonimmigrant visa that allows U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to perform temporary non-agricultural services or labor. The program’s core purpose is to act as a safety valve for businesses experiencing temporary labor shortages.

However, it can only be used after an employer proves two fundamental conditions: that there aren’t enough “able, willing, qualified, and available” U.S. workers to fill the open positions, and that hiring foreign workers “will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions” of similarly employed U.S. workers. This dual mandate—supporting businesses while protecting the domestic labor market—creates the central tension that shapes the program’s complex rules and ongoing debates.

H-2B vs. H-2A: Non-Agricultural vs. Agricultural Workers

The original “H-2” visa category, created in 1952, covered both agricultural and non-agricultural temporary workers. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) split this into two distinct programs to address different economic needs.

H-2A Visas: Designated exclusively for temporary or seasonal agricultural labor, such as planting and harvesting crops, range herding, and livestock production.

H-2B Visas: Cover all other types of temporary non-agricultural work. This broad category includes jobs in landscaping, hospitality, construction, and seafood processing.

A fundamental difference between the two is the existence of an annual numerical limit. The H-2A program is uncapped—there’s no limit to the number of agricultural workers who can be brought in each year. The H-2B program has a strict annual cap, which has profound consequences for employers in non-agricultural sectors.

This structural difference reflects distinct policy priorities. The uncapped nature of the H-2A visa suggests a long-standing political judgment that the nation’s food supply chain requires a flexible and guaranteed supply of foreign labor. The cap on H-2B visas indicates greater political sensitivity about the potential for these workers to compete with the domestic workforce in a wider range of industries.

This legislative choice is why the H-2B program is defined by intense competition, uncertainty, and a high-stakes lottery system—challenges that H-2A employers don’t face.

H-2B vs. H-1B: Temporary Labor vs. Specialty Occupations

While both are capped temporary worker programs, the H-2B and H-1B visas serve entirely different segments of the labor market.

H-1B Visas: For foreign workers in “specialty occupations”—professional roles that require, at minimum, a bachelor’s degree or equivalent in a specific field. H-1B workers are often highly skilled professionals in science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), education, and finance.

H-2B Visas: For jobs where the primary requirement is the temporary nature of the employer’s need, not the worker’s academic credentials. While some positions may require specific skills, a university degree is generally not a prerequisite.

The application processes also differ. H-1B employers file a Labor Condition Application (LCA) with the Department of Labor, whereas H-2B employers must undergo a more rigorous Temporary Labor Certification (TLC) process to prove a shortage of U.S. workers.

Who Runs the H-2B Program?

Bringing an H-2B worker into the United States isn’t a simple transaction with a single government office. It’s a complex, multi-stage process overseen by three separate federal departments, each with its own mission and responsibilities. This sequential structure means an employer must successfully navigate a series of checkpoints, where a delay or denial at any stage can jeopardize the entire application.

The Department of Labor: Certifying the Need

The Department of Labor (DOL) acts as the initial gatekeeper, tasked with protecting the U.S. labor market. Before an employer can even ask for a foreign worker, they must first ask the DOL for permission.

The DOL’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) reviews an employer’s Application for Temporary Employment Certification to verify two key points: that there aren’t enough U.S. workers available to do the job, and that hiring foreign workers won’t lower wages or worsen working conditions for American workers in similar roles.

The DOL also determines the “prevailing wage” for the occupation in the specific geographic area, which is the minimum wage the employer must pay.

The Department of Homeland Security and USCIS: Petitioning and Adjudicating

Once the DOL certifies that a labor need exists, the process moves to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The employer must file a Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a component agency of DHS.

USCIS reviews the employer’s petition to ensure it meets all legal requirements and that the employer is eligible to hire H-2B workers. This is the stage where the annual visa cap is enforced. If the cap has been reached, USCIS will reject new petitions.

USCIS is also the agency that announces any supplemental visa releases and manages the intake of petitions for those extra numbers.

The Department of State: Vetting and Issuing Visas

After USCIS approves the employer’s petition, the final stage begins for workers who are outside the United States. They must apply for an H-2B visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate in their home country, a process managed by the Department of State (DOS).

A DOS consular officer interviews each applicant to verify their identity, qualifications, and, critically, their intent to return home after the temporary work period concludes. If the officer is satisfied, a visa is placed in the worker’s passport, authorizing them to travel to the U.S. to seek admission for employment.

This division of labor among the DOL, DHS, and DOS creates a cascade of risk for employers. Each agency’s approval is a prerequisite for the next, and the process is strictly linear. An employer can invest months of time and thousands of dollars to obtain labor certification from the DOL, only to have their USCIS petition denied because the annual visa cap was reached while they were waiting. This structural inefficiency is a primary source of frustration for businesses and a key reason why the program is a constant subject of reform debates.

The Employer Application Process

For U.S. businesses, the H-2B application process is a long and demanding journey that requires meticulous planning, extensive documentation, and strict adherence to deadlines. The system is designed with significant friction, reflecting a policy that employers must exhaust all domestic labor options before turning to foreign workers. This places the entire burden of proof—and significant financial risk—on the employer.

Proving Temporary Need

Before an employer can even begin the application, they must determine if their labor shortage qualifies as “temporary” under strict government definitions. The need cannot be for a permanent, year-round position. It must fall into one of four specific categories:

One-Time Occurrence: The employer has a need for temporary workers for a short-duration event or project that won’t be repeated in the future.

Seasonal Need: The need is tied to a specific season of the year and is recurring. A classic example is a ski resort that needs staff only during winter months.

Peakload Need: The employer has a permanent workforce but needs to supplement it temporarily to handle a short-term surge in demand, such as a retailer hiring extra staff for the holiday season.

Intermittent Need: The employer doesn’t have permanent staff for a role and occasionally needs temporary workers for short periods.

The Prevailing Wage Determination

The process officially begins about five months before the workers are needed. The employer must first request a Prevailing Wage Determination (PWD) from the DOL’s National Prevailing Wage Center (NPWC) by filing Form ETA-9141.

The DOL analyzes wage data for the specific job in the intended area of employment and issues a PWD, which sets the minimum hourly rate the employer must pay. This wage must be the highest of the prevailing wage determination, or the applicable federal, state, or local minimum wage.

The Temporary Labor Certification Application

This is the most intensive phase of the process. Within a narrow window—75 to 90 days before the job start date—the employer must take two actions at once: file a job order with the State Workforce Agency (SWA) and submit the H-2B application, Form ETA-9142B, to the DOL.

Once the DOL accepts the application, it triggers a mandatory U.S. worker recruitment period. The employer must make a good-faith effort to hire domestically, which includes placing newspaper ads, contacting former U.S. employees, posting the job on government registries, and interviewing any qualified U.S. applicants.

The employer must then submit a detailed recruitment report to the DOL, justifying why any U.S. applicants were not hired. If the DOL is convinced that no qualified U.S. workers are available, it will grant the Temporary Labor Certification.

Filing the Form I-129 Petition

With the approved TLC, the employer can finally petition for the workers by filing Form I-129 with USCIS. This is the critical moment when the annual H-2B visa cap becomes a factor.

If USCIS has already received enough petitions to exhaust the 33,000 visas available for that half of the year, it will reject all further cap-subject petitions, regardless of whether the employer has an approved TLC. This makes the entire process a race against time, where success often depends on being among the very first to file.

How Workers Apply for an H-2B Visa

For a foreign national, the path to obtaining an H-2B visa is entirely dependent on a U.S. employer successfully navigating the complex process first. A worker cannot self-petition; the opportunity begins with a job offer from a U.S. company that has already secured government approval. This structure places the worker in a position of high dependency, where their control over the process is limited.

The Job Offer and Employer Petition

The journey for a worker begins with a valid job offer from a U.S. employer. This employer must have already completed the labor certification process with the Department of Labor and have an approved Form I-129 petition from USCIS.

Employers frequently use recruiting agencies in foreign countries to find workers, but it’s illegal under U.S. law for either the employer or the recruiter to charge workers fees for job placement.

The Consular Process

Once USCIS approves the employer’s petition, the prospective worker can begin their visa application process at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate in their home country. This involves several key steps:

Complete Form DS-160: The worker must fill out the Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application, which collects their biographical information and details about their intended travel.

Pay the Fee: The worker must pay the non-refundable visa application fee, which is currently $205.

Schedule an Interview: The applicant schedules an interview at the consulate. They must bring several documents, including a valid passport, the DS-160 confirmation page, the fee payment receipt, and the receipt number from the employer’s approved I-129 petition.

During the interview, a consular officer assesses the applicant’s eligibility. A crucial part of this assessment is determining the applicant’s “nonimmigrant intent.” The worker must convince the officer that they have strong ties to their home country—such as family, property, or a job to return to—and that they fully intend to depart the U.S. when their temporary work authorization expires.

Entering the U.S.

If the visa is approved, it’s placed in the worker’s passport. This visa allows them to travel to the United States. However, the visa itself doesn’t guarantee entry.

The final step occurs at a U.S. port of entry, such as an airport, where a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer makes the ultimate decision to admit the worker into the country.

The H-2B Cap, Supplemental Visas, and the Lottery

The single most defining feature of the H-2B program is its numerical cap. This strict limit, set by Congress decades ago, has failed to keep pace with economic demand, creating an annual high-stakes competition for a limited number of visas. This scarcity has led to a system of supplemental visa releases and a de facto lottery that determines the fate of thousands of seasonal businesses each year.

The 66,000 Visa Statutory Cap

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the number of new H-2B visas is statutorily capped at 66,000 per fiscal year (FY). This cap is split evenly into two allotments:

• 33,000 visas for workers who begin employment in the first half of the fiscal year (October 1 – March 31)
• 33,000 visas for workers who begin employment in the second half of the fiscal year (April 1 – September 30)

Certain categories of workers are exempt from this cap. This includes current H-2B workers who are extending their stay or changing employers, as well as workers in specific niche occupations like fish roe processing. The spouses and minor children of H-2B workers, who receive H-4 visas, also don’t count against the cap.

When Demand Exceeds Supply

Since FY2014, employer demand for H-2B workers has consistently and significantly outstripped the 66,000 available visas. In response to intense lobbying from seasonal industries, Congress has, since FY2017, annually included provisions in appropriations bills that grant the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) temporary, discretionary authority to release additional H-2B visas above the statutory cap.

This has become a recurring, year-by-year fix that has effectively allowed the program to more than double in size. For instance, in FY 2022, a total of 126,426 individuals were granted H-2B status.

This reliance on temporary legislative fixes creates a dysfunctional policy cycle. The statutory cap, established in 1990, is widely seen as disconnected from current economic realities. Rather than permanently reforming the cap, Congress engages in an annual stopgap measure, creating profound uncertainty for businesses that can’t plan their workforce needs until the supplemental visa announcement is made.

This uncertainty forces a massive rush of applications on the first possible filing day, which in turn overwhelms government systems and necessitates the use of a lottery to manage the intake. The lottery is therefore not a designed feature of the program, but an administrative workaround for a crisis created by legislative inaction.

FY 2025 Supplemental Visa Allocation

For Fiscal Year 2025, DHS announced it would make up to 64,716 supplemental visas available, in addition to the 66,000 statutory visas. These aren’t released all at once but are divided into specific categories:

Country-Specific Allocation: 20,000 visas are reserved for nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, and Costa Rica. This is a foreign policy tool aimed at expanding lawful pathways for migration from these countries.

Returning Worker Allocation: 44,716 visas are reserved for “returning workers”—individuals who have held an H-2B visa in one of the three preceding fiscal years. This pool is further subdivided to meet demand throughout the year:

• First Half of FY: 20,716 visas for start dates before March 31
• Early Second Half of FY: 19,000 visas for start dates between April 1 and May 14
• Late Second Half of FY: 5,000 visas for start dates from May 15 to September 30

The H-2B Lottery

The term “H-2B lottery” is common but misleading. The process isn’t a random drawing of winners. Instead, when the DOL receives a massive volume of applications on the first day of the filing window, it uses a computer-generated “randomization process” to assign each application to a processing group (e.g., Group A, Group B, Group C).

The DOL then processes these groups sequentially. Because the number of visa petitions filed with USCIS by employers in the first group or two is often enough to exhaust the entire semi-annual cap, being assigned to a later group (like C, D, or E) means an employer’s application will likely not be processed in time for them to file with USCIS before the cap is hit.

This turns the random group assignment into a de facto lottery that determines which businesses get a chance to secure a legal workforce for the season.

Industries That Rely on H-2B Workers

The H-2B program isn’t used evenly across the U.S. economy. Its use is highly concentrated in a handful of specific, seasonal industries and the geographic regions where they operate. For these sectors, the H-2B visa isn’t just a convenience but a critical component of their business model, and the annual uncertainty of the visa cap represents a serious threat.

Landscaping and Groundskeeping

The landscaping industry is, by a significant margin, the largest user of the H-2B program. It consistently accounts for approximately 40% of all certified H-2B positions.

Industry groups argue that the program is essential for their members, who face intense labor demand during spring and summer months. They report that without H-2B workers, businesses are forced to turn away customers, delay or cancel capital investments like new equipment, and, in some cases, lay off the full-time American workers whose jobs are supported by the seasonal crews.

Hospitality and Tourism

The hospitality sector, including hotels, motels, and resorts, is the second-largest user of the program, representing about 8-9% of all H-2B workers.

Businesses in this industry rely on H-2B workers to manage predictable peaks in tourism, especially in resort destinations where the local population is too small to meet the surge in demand for services like housekeeping, food service, and groundskeeping.

Seafood Processing, Forestry, and Construction

Several other industries with physically demanding, seasonal work are also major users of the H-2B program.

Seafood Processing: This industry depends on H-2B workers for its highly seasonal operations, particularly in coastal states like Alaska, Louisiana, and Virginia for processing salmon, shrimp, and crab.

Forestry: H-2B workers are employed in physically strenuous jobs such as tree planting and conservation work.

Construction: In regions with harsh winters, construction companies use H-2B workers to supplement their workforce during the peak building season in warmer months.

This concentration of H-2B use in specific industries and locations means that the national debate over the visa cap has intensely local consequences. The failure of a seafood processor in a small coastal town or a landscaping company in a suburban community to secure its H-2B workers can have a disproportionate impact on that local economy, affecting not only the business itself but also the “upstream and downstream” American jobs that rely on its operation.

Note: Percentages vary slightly by year and data source.

The Economic Impact Debate

The H-2B program sits at the heart of a fundamental economic debate: does it supplement the U.S. workforce and create jobs, or does it suppress wages and displace American workers? Proponents and critics point to different data and economic studies to support their claims, revealing a deep ideological divide over the role of temporary foreign labor in the U.S. economy.

The Business Case

Advocates for the H-2B program, including trade associations like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the H2B Workforce Coalition, portray it as an essential tool for economic growth. Their central argument is that H-2B workers are hired as a last resort to fill physically demanding, seasonal jobs that American workers are unwilling to take. By filling these gaps, H-2B workers allow seasonal businesses to operate at full capacity, which in turn enables them to retain their year-round American employees and create additional jobs.

Several economic studies support this view. An analysis by the American Enterprise Institute concluded that every H-2B worker creates or sustains an average of 4.64 American jobs.

A 2023 study by Edgeworth Economics found that local areas that hired more H-2B workers experienced greater employment growth and higher wage growth among U.S. workers.

Research on the 2020 H-2B visa lottery during the COVID-19 pandemic showed that firms randomly selected to receive workers had a 2 percentage point higher survival rate and experienced 24% higher payroll growth, suggesting the program provides a crucial economic buffer during crises.

The Labor Argument

Critics, led by organizations like the AFL-CIO and the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), present a starkly different picture. They argue that the H-2B program is a “low-road” business strategy that allows employers to bypass the domestic labor market and hire a “captive” workforce that is less likely to complain about low pay or poor conditions.

Their research contends that the program actively suppresses wages. An EPI analysis found that in the top 15 H-2B occupations, the average certified wage for H-2B workers was as much as 24.7% lower than the national average wage for all workers in that same occupation.

Critics also point to the high incidence of wage theft in H-2B-heavy industries—totaling over $2.2 billion between 2000 and 2024—as evidence that the program’s structure harms both migrant and U.S. workers by driving down labor standards.

What the Studies Say

The conflicting conclusions from various studies highlight the complexity of measuring the program’s true economic impact. The debate often hinges on whether H-2B workers are seen as complements to the U.S. workforce (enabling businesses to grow and hire more Americans in different roles) or as substitutes (a cheaper alternative that displaces domestic workers).

The Congressional Research Service notes a significant methodological challenge in many studies: a “selection issue,” where the businesses that use the H-2B program are inherently different from those that don’t, making direct comparisons difficult.

More recent “quasi-experimental” studies attempt to overcome this by using the random nature of the H-2B lottery. These studies compare outcomes for firms that applied for workers but were randomly denied with those that were randomly approved. These analyses have generally found positive impacts for the businesses that received H-2B workers—such as a greater likelihood of staying in business—with no evidence of negative effects on other firms or workers in the local economy.

The H-2B debate isn’t just about interpreting data; it reflects a fundamental disagreement on labor economics and policy. It pits one vision, which prioritizes business flexibility and economic output, against another that prioritizes maximizing wages and protections for the domestic workforce. The H-2B program serves as a microcosm of the larger, unresolved debate about immigration’s role in the American economy.

Worker Rights, Exploitation, and Reform

While the economic debate continues, there’s growing consensus that the structure of the H-2B program creates significant vulnerabilities for workers. The fact that a worker’s legal status is tied to a single employer creates a severe power imbalance that can lead to exploitation. In response, a wave of recent government actions has signaled a significant shift in regulatory focus, moving from a primarily business-centric process toward one that places greater emphasis on worker rights and protections.

Known Risks

The dependency of H-2B workers on their employers makes them reluctant to report abuses for fear of retaliation or deportation. This vulnerability manifests in several well-documented forms of exploitation:

Wage Theft: Employers in industries that heavily use H-2B workers have been found to have stolen billions of dollars in wages from both migrant and U.S. workers over the past two decades.

Illegal Recruitment Fees: Many workers are forced to pay exorbitant fees to labor recruiters in their home countries to secure a job, trapping them in a cycle of debt before they even begin working. This practice is illegal under U.S. law.

Human Trafficking: In the most severe cases, the combination of debt, deception, and coercion amounts to labor trafficking. Between 2018 and 2020, the National Human Trafficking Hotline identified 853 H-2B visa holders as victims. A staggering 70% of these victims reported that their wages had been withheld or stolen by their employers.

Government Response

In October 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration launched the H-2B Worker Protection Taskforce, an interagency effort involving DHS, DOL, the Department of State, and USAID, to address these systemic issues.

In 2023, the taskforce released a report with over a dozen action items aimed at rebalancing the power dynamic. Key recommendations include:

• Strengthening protections for workers who report labor violations (whistleblower protections)
• Improving interagency data sharing to better track and penalize abusive recruiters and employers
• Enhancing “know your rights” materials and training for workers before they leave their home countries

Recent Changes

The taskforce’s work has been complemented by significant regulatory changes. A DHS Final Rule that took effect on January 17, 2025, introduced several modernizing reforms aimed directly at increasing worker agency:

Elimination of the “Eligible Countries List”: Employers are now able to petition for workers from any country, removing a previous restriction.

Extended Grace Periods: Workers now have more time before and after their employment period to organize their affairs. Crucially, a new 60-day grace period after a job ends gives workers time to find a new H-2B employer without falling out of legal status.

Employment Portability: This major change allows an H-2B worker who is already in the U.S. to begin working for a new H-2B employer as soon as that new employer files a petition, rather than having to wait weeks or months for its approval. This makes it far more feasible for a worker to leave an abusive job for a better one.

The legislative debate also continues. In June 2025, the House Appropriations Committee passed a bipartisan amendment that would allow compliant employers who have used the program for years to hire the same number of workers annually without being subject to the cap or lottery, a move aimed at providing stability for established seasonal businesses. While its future is uncertain, the amendment signals a growing cross-party recognition of the program’s importance and the need for reform.

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