H-2B · Timeline

How the process works

1. 1

   1. Labor certification

   Your employer applies to DOL (or the Guam Department of Labor for work on Guam) for a temporary labor certification. DOL may issue it for a period of up to one year. A petition for Canadian musicians who will work within 50 miles of the U.S.-Canadian border for 30 days or less may skip this step.^[1,2]

2. 2

   2. Petition to USCIS

   With the certification, the employer files Form I-129, no earlier than 6 months before the date of actual need. Generally one petition can cover all workers on one certification, with up to 25 named workers per petition, but named and unnamed workers cannot be on the same petition, and workers who are currently in the United States must be named.^[1,2,3]

3. 3

   3. Visa

   After USCIS approves the petition, workers outside the United States apply for an H-2B visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate and then seek admission from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at a port of entry; workers who do not need a visa seek admission directly. Petition approval does not by itself make you eligible for the visa; the consular officer must be satisfied that you qualify. A consulate may issue the visa up to 90 days before your employment begins, but you can use it to seek admission only from 10 days before the approved period starts.^[1,4,5]

4. 4

   4. Admission

   You are admitted for the period of the approved petition, plus up to 10 days before it begins to travel to the worksite and up to 30 days after it ends to depart or to seek an extension based on a new job offer (subject to the 3-year limit). Unless otherwise authorized, you may work only during the petition's validity period.^[2]