Businesses Face Staffing Concerns; Town Addresses Visa Woes

EAST HAMPTON, NY — Town officials are asking for help in addressing staffing concerns faced by local businesses in light of "problems in the H-2B visa program."

East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc wrote a letter to federal elected officials asking them to address the concerns and support changes to help ensure that East Hampton businesses can hire their seasonal workers in a timely fashion, he said in a release.

According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the H-2B program allows U.S. employers or U.S. agents who meet specific regulatory requirements to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary nonagricultural jobs. A U.S. employer, or U.S. agent as described in the regulations, must file a Form I-129, or petition for non-immigrant worker, on a prospective worker's behalf, the site explains.

USCIS, the site added, "is no longer accepting petitions filed under the temporary final rule, increasing the fiscal year 2018 numerical limit on H-2B nonimmigrant visas. USCIS will reject and return any petitions received after June 6, 2018 that were not selected in the lottery, as well as any cap-subject petitions. Petitions accepted for processing will have a receipt date of June 11, 2018. . . Only employers whose petitions were accepted will receive receipt notices."

USCIS, the site said, will continue to accept H-2B petitions with start dates for fiscal year 2018 that are exempt from, or not counted toward, the congressionally mandated cap. USCIS will consider petitions requesting an employment start date on or after Oct. 1, 2018, toward the fiscal year 2019 cap.

“Three elements of the H-2B visa program are negatively impacting East Hampton businesses: the annual quota/cap on the number of visas issued, and the lottery procedure; the lack of an expedited process or exemption for returning workers, and — particularly this year, following the government shutdown — delays in issuing visas that leave business owners unsure of staffing until late February or March, or even later into the spring,” according to the letter, which was signed by the entire East Hampton town board.

The letter, which was sent to Rep. Lee Zeldin along with Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, "underscores the importance to local businesses of H-2B visa workers, in the face of an insufficient local workforce to meet their peak season needs. It asks the officials to support expedited processing of 2019 H2-B visas, an increase in the number of visas issued annually, and an exemption for workers who have already qualified for the visa program and are returning to an employer," a release said.

Zeldin, Gillibrand and Schumer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Patch file photo.