Foreign Employees Receive Extension on Visas
Visa
Cape Cod Times
Paul Crocetti
Boston University Washington News Service
October 4, 2006
WASHINGTON, Oct. 4– Congress last week acted to extend an exemption in the H-2b visa program, allowing foreign workers who have been employed in the United States in the last three years to work here next year.
The exemption would have expired Oct. 1 but it has been extended to the same date next year. H-2b visas allow people to do unskilled labor in this country for up to a year.
The H-2b program allows employers to hire foreign workers to fill jobs that cannot be filled by U.S. employees. Between October, 2005 and April, 2006 Massachusetts received 612 H-2b visa applications from Cape and Island employers trying to fill 5,675 positions, according to the state Department of Labor.
“A lot of our members were very nervous about next year, especially on the Cape and the Islands,” said Wendy Northcross, the chief executive officer of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce. “It’s important to those folks. They’ll be relieved.”
Rep. Charles Bass, R-N.H., who originally introduced the bill, had hoped for a three-year extension, but ended up with the one year as a compromise. The bill was passed as part of the far-reaching National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 and is awaiting the President’s signature.
“I am proud that I was able to work with my colleagues from across the aisle in both houses of Congress to ensure that the H-2b exemption for returning workers will be extended for an additional year,” Bass said in a press release. “The H-2b program has been a crucial avenue by which small and seasonal businesses find the temporary workers that they need to stay in business.”
The program is very important for employers on the Cape who rely on foreign workers for entry-level positions such as cooks and dishwashers, Northcross said. She dismissed the notion that the immigrant laborers are doing jobs that U.S. citizens might want.
“It’s hard to find people” to do the jobs, she said, adding that the immigrant workers “are doing hard labor, unskilled work. People think it’s taking away jobs and that’s not the case.”
There is a detailed process for businesses that wish to file for employees with H-2b visas, and they must go through the Department of Labor. According to the Department of Labor’s criteria for awarding an H-2b visa, “there must be no qualified and willing U.S. workers available for the job.”
Added Northcross: “It’s not simple, it’s not cheap, it’s not easy. It’s not like putting out a want-ad.”
These businesses are safe for now, but Congress may have to take up the issue again next year.
“As long as there is a need for seasonal work, we’ll continue to fight for it,” Bass spokesman John Billings said. “We’ll probably have to look at this in the future.”
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