The National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) is praising a bipartisan group of lawmakers for legislation that would permanently relieve caps on H-2B visas, making it easier to bring workers into the country. read more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) said Alvarado Landscaping of Lorain, Ohio, must pay $40k in penalties and $36k in back wages following violations of the temporary foreign workers’ visa program. As part of the H-2B temporary worker program, employers that hire temporary foreign workers must pay their international transportation and meal expenses while they travel from their home country,... read more
The Department of Homeland Security added a supplemental increase of 22,000 visas for the H-2B Temporary Non-Agricultural Worker program. The additional visas will be made available in the coming months via a temporary final rule in the Federal Register. The Department of Homeland Security said 6,000 of the visas will be reserved for nationals of the Northern Triangle countries of... read more
On Monday, June 22, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to suspend the issue of new H-2B visas, along with other temporary worker visas, through the end of 2020. This order applies to H-1B visas, H-4 visas, L-1 visas and some J-1 visas. These restrictions will be in place for the rest of the year and can be extended.... read more
Immigration lawyer Kevin Lashus, a partner in immigration and nationality law at Fisher Broyles, discusses visa programs for the landscape industry. read more
The Department of Homeland Security will make available 35,000 supplemental H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas for the second half of fiscal year (FY) 2020. The allocation also comes with new conditions to provide relief to seasonal employers who truly need it and reduce fraud and abuse in the program. DHS also announced that it will take necessary anti-fraud and abuse... read more
