The DHS secretary has designated 11 new countries as eligible to participate in the H-2A and H-2B nonimmigrant visa programs. The new countries include: Croatia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Ireland, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Serbia, Slovakia and Uruguay. This update is published in the Federal Register.
The H-2B category is available to individuals temporarily in the U.S. for seasonal, periodic, or intermittent employment of a non-agricultural nature. The H-2B category is capped at 66,000 per year worldwide with 33,000 available on October 1 and 33,000 available on April 1 of each year. USCIS has announced that it will continue to receive H-2B petitions for fiscal year 2009 because they have not yet met the H-2B quota. However, they must be adjudicated by September 30, 2009. Any filed after that date will be counted toward FY2010 which starts on October 1.
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