<p>The congressionally mandated annual cap for H-2B visas sought by semi-skilled Indian workers is 66,000, and the government has issued only 40,640 this fiscal year, which ends Sep 30.<br /><br />"Because of the low visa issuance rate, (US Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS) is reopening the filing period to allow employers to file additional petitions for qualified H-2B temporary foreign non-agricultural workers," the agency said in a statement.<br /><br />While H-1B visas permit foreign nationals to work in the US on short-term projects as a prelude to a green card, the H-2B programme enables US employers to bring foreign nationals to the US to fill temporary non-agricultural positions for which there is a shortage of available workers. <br /><br />Typically, H-2B workers fill labour needs in areas such as construction, health care, landscaping, food service and hospitality.<br /><br />Normally, the number of applications for temporary work visas from US employers far outstrip the number available, but the recession has reduced demand.<br /><br />The number of petitions from employers trying to bring foreigners to work permanently in the US has declined dramatically over the last two years.<br /><br />The H-1B visas coveted by Indian techies too have gone abegging this year. USCIS has received approximately 45,000 H-1B petitions counting toward the Congressionally-mandated 65,000 cap. <br /><br />Meanwhile, USCIS figures show government has received about half the number of employer-sponsored applications for work-based green cards in fiscal years 2008 and 2009 than it did in each of the previous years. <br /><br />There were almost 235,000 applications submitted in fiscal 2007, almost 104,000 the following year, and fewer than 36,000 through the first eight months of fiscal 2009.<br /><br />In fiscal year 2007, the latest year for which the statistics were available, most applicants came from India, Mexico, the Philippines, China and Korea, according to the Department of Labour. <br /></p>
<p>The congressionally mandated annual cap for H-2B visas sought by semi-skilled Indian workers is 66,000, and the government has issued only 40,640 this fiscal year, which ends Sep 30.<br /><br />"Because of the low visa issuance rate, (US Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS) is reopening the filing period to allow employers to file additional petitions for qualified H-2B temporary foreign non-agricultural workers," the agency said in a statement.<br /><br />While H-1B visas permit foreign nationals to work in the US on short-term projects as a prelude to a green card, the H-2B programme enables US employers to bring foreign nationals to the US to fill temporary non-agricultural positions for which there is a shortage of available workers. <br /><br />Typically, H-2B workers fill labour needs in areas such as construction, health care, landscaping, food service and hospitality.<br /><br />Normally, the number of applications for temporary work visas from US employers far outstrip the number available, but the recession has reduced demand.<br /><br />The number of petitions from employers trying to bring foreigners to work permanently in the US has declined dramatically over the last two years.<br /><br />The H-1B visas coveted by Indian techies too have gone abegging this year. USCIS has received approximately 45,000 H-1B petitions counting toward the Congressionally-mandated 65,000 cap. <br /><br />Meanwhile, USCIS figures show government has received about half the number of employer-sponsored applications for work-based green cards in fiscal years 2008 and 2009 than it did in each of the previous years. <br /><br />There were almost 235,000 applications submitted in fiscal 2007, almost 104,000 the following year, and fewer than 36,000 through the first eight months of fiscal 2009.<br /><br />In fiscal year 2007, the latest year for which the statistics were available, most applicants came from India, Mexico, the Philippines, China and Korea, according to the Department of Labour. <br /></p>