Congress created the H-2B program in 1986 with the passage of
the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA). This new
non-immigrant[1] class was designed for
non-agricultural employers with a short term demand for workers who
were unable to find workers to satisfy that demand.
Employers with this type of a need may ask the Department of
Labor (DOL) to certify a lack of sufficient workers in the area of
intended employment. With certification, employers may petition the
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for H-2B
visa spots, and send the workers to the Department of State (DOS)
to obtain on H-2B visas.
A specific prerequisite to use H-2B program is the establishment
of the temporary nature of the employer's need. The
petitioner's need for the duties to be performed by the
employee(s) must temporary, and typically must not last longer than
a ten month period (with the exception of a one-time occurrence
need) whether or not the underlying job
