Streamline Your H-2B Visa Process with LCI

U.S. Lawns has been providing full service, all-season commercial grounds management services since 1986. Our nationwide network of landscape professionals, dedicated local owner operators and their teams, supported by the expertise of today’s most accomplished industry leaders, carefully develop customized plans for each client. We partner with US Lawns franchises to assist them with their H-2B needs across the country.

The National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) is the trade association representing an industry of more than 1 million landscape, lawn care, tree care, irrigation, and horticulture professionals in the United States, Canada and overseas. We are committed to advancing the industry and helping our members succeed through advocacy, education, networking, training, and professional development. NALP is a leader in advocacy for the H-2B program being the voice for landscape businesses to make a difference in regulations that impact the industry.

Here are the different definitions in regards to the 4 different ways you can be seasonal:

1. Seasonal employers typically have a definitive off-season where there is absolutely no work being done and is dictated by specific weather patterns and recurrent in nature.

EXAMPLE: A landscaper owns a business in North Dakota. During the spring and summer months, his crew mows both residential and commercial properties until the end of October. His business is completely shut down from November through the end of February due to snow. He will begin mowing again in the spring (March) when the snow has melted.

2. Peak Load employers are typically those that are open all 12 months of the year. There is a spike, or a peak, in the employer’s season where it becomes extremely busy compared to the downtime. Workers can only be requested during this peak time.

EXAMPLE: A landscaper owns a business in North Dakota. During the spring and summer months, his crew mows both residential and commercial properties until the end of October. This time of year, generates the most revenue for his business. He continues to perform snow removal throughout the winter and he has laid off a majority of his spring staff. A smaller, integral crew remains on for the winter to perform snow removal duties and whatever else might pop up. He will begin mowing again in the spring (March) when the snow has melted and all his laid off workers will return to work.

3. Intermittent employers are rare in this program. To qualify an employer as having an intermittent need, they must not have employed permanent or full-time workers to perform the service or labor, but occasionally needs temporary workers to provide that service or labor for a short period of time.

EXAMPLE: a company produces limited edition porcelain ware to commemorate a special event, but only from time to time and not on a fixed schedule.

4. A One-Time Occurrence employer would require you to show that you have not employed workers to perform the services or labor in the past, and the petitioner will not need workers to perform this in the future, or there is an employment situation that is otherwise permanent, but a temporary event of short duration has created a need for temporary workers.

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Department of Labor (Wage and Hour Division) has a regulation concerning “corresponding employment.” This means that any non H-2 worker employed by an employer that has a certified application who performs substantially the same work as the foreign worker have at least the same protections and benefits as those offered or provided to an H-2 worker.

In short, yes, any current, domestic workers you have doing the same work as the foreign workers have to make at least the same wage.

H-2A: Yes, you are required to house the workers at no cost to the foreign workers and the workers in corresponding employment who cannot reasonably return home at the end of the day. H-2A employers are also required to provide three meals per day or to furnish free and convenient cooking/kitchen facilities where meals can be prepared.

Learn more here.
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‍H-2B (all industries other than forestry/carnival): No, you are not required to provide housing, but you must assist in helping them find housing. Whether that be setting up hotels or a space they can rent, the workers will likely need assistance finding somewhere to live. Unlike H-2A, you do not have to provide meals or a kitchen.
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H-2B (Itinerant: Forestry/Carnival): Yes, all forestry and carnival type employers are required to pay housing throughout the duration of the job because it is seen as a benefit to the employer due to the nature of a mobile workforce. These employers are not required to cover or provide meal costs during the duration of the job like an H2A employer would.

Learn more about itinerant housing requirements here.

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DOL will classify the work you do into specific job codes. There are countless of job codes to look through, but there can only be ONE job code per application/certification.

FOR EXAMPLE: if you own a hotel and you need housekeepers, dishwashers, and an outdoor maintenance crew, you would need to file three separate applications to obtain certifications for those three very different jobs.

Each job code has different wages, and with each application, we have to explain the seasonality and need for the occupation within your business. It would be impossible to put three very different types of jobs onto one singular application.

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Your H2 workers will have the same taxes and deductions made from their paychecks as any domestic worker would. So yes, they do pay taxes!

DOL categorizes each job into a specific code. There are many different job codes for the A and B programs. Below are the more common job codes.

H-2A

• 45-2092.00 Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse
• 45-2092.01 Nursery Workers
• 45-2092.02 Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop
• 45-2091.00 Agricultural Equipment Operators
• 45-2093.00 Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals
• 45-2093.00 Beekeepers

H-2B

• 37-3011 Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers
• 45-4011 Forest and Conservation Workers
• 35-2014 Cooks, Restaurant
• 37-2011 Janitors & Cleaners, (Except Maids & Housekeeping)
• 37-2012 Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners
• 39-3091 Amusement and Recreation Attendant
• 51-3022 Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters
• 47-2061 Construction Laborers
• 51-9198 Helpers, Production Workers

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Employers must prove that there are not enough U.S. workers available, willing, and qualified to perform the temporary work. They must also show that hiring H-2B workers will not negatively impact the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers.

The H-2B visa program is commonly used in industries such as hospitality, landscaping, construction, forestry, seafood processing, and other seasonal or peak load industries.

H-2B workers can stay for the period of employment specified in the labor certification, which is typically up to 10 months.

Yes, there is an annual cap on the number of H-2B visas issued. This cap is set at 66,000 visas per fiscal year and is divided into two caps of 33,000 for each 6-month period of the year: October through March and April through September.

The prevailing wage is determined by the National Prevailing Wage Center (NPWC) by calculating the average wage paid to similar workers in the same occupation and geographic area.

H-2B visa holders can stay for the period specified in the labor certification, typically up to 10 months.

The H-2B visa application process involves several steps. First, the employer must obtain a temporary labor certification from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). This certification verifies that there are not enough U.S. workers available to fill the position. Once the certification is secured, the employer submits the Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). If the petition is approved, the prospective H-2B worker can apply for the visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate in their home country. The process requires coordination between the employer, the DOL, and USCIS to ensure compliance with regulations governing the employment of temporary foreign workers.

Foreign workers from eligible countries who have a job offer for temporary non-agricultural work from a U.S. employer can apply for an H-2B visa. The employer must also meet specific regulatory requirements.

The H-2B visa program allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers for temporary non-agricultural jobs when there are not enough qualified U.S. workers available. This helps businesses meet seasonal or peak load demands.

H-2A and H-2B visas are both temporary work visas in the United States, but they cater to different industries and job types. H-2A visas are designed for seasonal agricultural workers, addressing the labor needs of U.S. farmers during peak growing seasons. On the other hand, H-2B visas cater to non-agricultural, temporary work positions in various industries, such as hospitality, landscaping, and construction. The key distinction lies in the nature of the work – H-2A for agricultural and H-2B for non-agricultural sectors.