Non-immigrant workers can temporarily work in the United States by providing non-agricultural services or labour thanks to the H-2B Visa, a temporary non-agricultural visa.
Workers who fulfil certain rules and requirements and want to work in the United States only temporarily generally have access to this document.
What are its requirements, what sort of documents are needed, and what benefits can you get from it? Let's find that out!
What Are Its Requirements?
You require a sponsor in the US in order to submit an application for an H2B visa. Your sponsor must have made you an offer of a temporary position. The offered job cannot be in agriculture or closely related industries. Furthermore, your sponsor (employer) needs to demonstrate that there aren't enough US citizens available to fill the open positions.
Following are certain requirements that must be fulfilled:
- For the H2B Visa Program, you should be a resident or citizen of one of the countries listed by the Secretary of State as being eligible.
- To be eligible for a non-agricultural job, you must meet the minimum requirements.
- Your employer must be based in the US and have labor certification.
- There should be no willing and qualified U.S. candidates to fill the vacancy.
- You need ties to your country of residence to demonstrate that you'll go back when your visa expires.
What Are The Documents Required?
In order to apply for this particular visa, there are certain documents required. Following are the documents that you may need to provide:
- Employer's Form I-129 approval page
- Page of the Form DS-160 application confirmation
- A valid passport
- Passport-style photos that meet U.S. visa requirements
- Evidence of family ties, properties, and various other things in your home country. This is to ensure that you will be returning back to your home country once the visa expires.
What Benefits Will You Get?
There are a number of benefits of having an H-2B Visa. Following are a few of these:
- You are permitted to work temporarily in the United States and receive all employee benefits.
- With this visa, you are free to travel outside of the United States.
- You are allowed to bring your family members, particularly those who are your dependents, to stay with you in the United States.
- If you have a new job offer and a petition that has been approved in your favour, you may change jobs.
How Long Can You Stay In The US On H-2B Visa?
The H-2B visa does not permit stays of more than one year in the US because it is only temporary. Therefore, individuals with an H-2B visa are permitted to stay for the duration specified in their I-797, but not longer than one year.
As soon as they receive the visa, applicants should be aware that time spent outside of the US counts toward their H-2B stay.
Can I Get My Visa Extended?
You can get your H-2B Visa extended. With that being said, if an extension is requested, the employer must provide a good reason for why they require the temporary foreign worker.
Ultimately, it is possible to get two one-year extensions for the H-2B visa. Thus, a foreign temporary worker's total permitted to stay in the US under an H-2B visa is three years.
After three years, you may need to stay in your home country for a period of around three months before reapplying for the visa.
How Can RB Law Help You?
As it is clear, the documentation and the entire process of applying for an H-2B Visa is quite complex and lengthy. This can ultimately increase the probability of error for the applicant. In such a situation, it is better to get assistance from a professional, and RB Law is here to help you with it. Contact us today and boost your chances of success in acquiring an H-2B Visa.
