PN-R - Lack of work visas poses challenges for area businesses

From my archive of press clippings:

Petoskey News-Review

Lack of work visas poses challenges for area businesses


By Ryan Bentley News-Review Staff Writer

Thursday, January 29, 2009 9:32 AM EST

With this year’s allotment of a common type of work visa already spoken for, some Northern Michigan resort operators are taking different approaches to fill summer jobs that typically have been handled by workers from abroad.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Earlier this month, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it had received enough petitions for H-2B work visas to reach the cap of 33,000 workers for the April-September 2009 period."

"Visas are issued on a yearly cycle corresponding with the federal government’s fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1. Because summer occurs relatively late in this cycle, employers needing seasonal workers at that time often have faced challenges getting paperwork in place before the cap is reached.

A couple of years ago, the law was updated, with half of the yearly visa allotment designated to be used in the second half of the fiscal year."

&

"According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the H-2B work visa allows U.S. employers in industries with peak load, seasonal or intermittent needs to supplement their existing labor force with temporary workers.

The H-2B visa category also allows U.S. employers to augment their existing labor force when needed because of a one-time occurrence requiring a temporary increase in workers.

Typically, H-2B workers fill labor needs in occupational areas such as construction, health care, landscaping, lumber, manufacturing, food service/processing and resort/hospitality services."

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Ryan Bentley
439-9342 - rbentley@petoskeynews.com