The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) have agreed to offer 20,000 additional H-2B visas to employers for positions starting on or before Mar. 31. These visas are used by employers, such as racehorse trainers, who seek seasonal guest workers.

“This addition of H-2B visas is helpful for the horse racing industry as we continue to see high demand for workers by employers,” said NTRA President and CEO Tom Rooney. “At the same time, the NTRA supports relief from the burdensome annual H-2B visa cap to enable affected employers to stabilize their businesses through a permanent returning worker exemption. We urge both departments to permanently reform the program.”

DHS is also providing additional flexibilities to H-2B petitioners under its general programmatic authority by allowing non-immigrant workers in the United States in valid H-2B status and who are beneficiaries of non-frivolous H-2B to begin work with a new employer after an H-2B petition is filed and before the petition is approved, generally for a period of up to 60 days. This provision clarifies portability eligibility for beneficiaries of pending petitions.

Of these additional 20,000 visas, 6,500 are reserved for nationals of the Northern Triangle countries of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala and 13,500 for returning workers.

The H-2B visa guest worker program is a non-immigrant visa program used by many industries that need temporary non-agricultural help when domestic workers are unavailable. For the horse racing industry, trainers rely heavily on the H-2B program to fill various backside positions.

For more information, view the temporary final rule in the Federal Register.

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The Proclamation 10014 prevented certain immigrants and nonimmigrants from traveling to the United States. Included in this group were individuals who either were selected to receive the opportunity to apply for visas–including H-2B visas–through the Fiscal Year 2020 Diversity Visa Lottery or who had already received such visas, causing labor challenges for many industries, including the horse racing industry. President Biden's Proclamation revokes these restrictions.

In other foreign worker developments, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it had received enough H-2B worker petitions by Feb. 12 to reach the congressionally mandated H-2B visa cap of 33,000 visas for the second half of fiscal year 2021. In December, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 became law and included a provision that provides the DHS with the discretionary authority to release an additional 64,716 H-2B visas when sufficient need is demonstrated.

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