New H-2C Visa Program Caps Worker Unemployment at 45 Days, Requires Employers to Pay 5% Scarcity Fee

The “Essential Workers for Economic Advancement Act” creates a brand-new temporary worker visa, the H-2C, designed to help businesses fill persistent labor gaps, but only in areas where the job market is already tight. Think of it as a highly specialized tool for employers who truly can’t find local workers.

The New H-2C Visa: A Tightrope Walk for Workers

This bill sets up the H-2C visa for foreign nationals coming to the U.S. temporarily to work for a registered employer in a registered position. The key rule here is geography: employers must be located in a “Full Employment Area,” defined as a county or metro area where the unemployment rate is 7.9% or lower. If your local unemployment rate goes above that threshold, employers can’t apply for new H-2C workers. The initial stay is up to three years, renewable twice.

The biggest catch, however, is the high-stakes environment for the worker. Once admitted, an H-2C nonimmigrant has only 45 consecutive days of authorized stay if they become unemployed. If they don’t find a new registered job within that window, their work authorization is immediately revoked, and the government must start deportation proceedings. This creates massive job insecurity; it’s a tightrope walk where one layoff means a mandatory exit, regardless of how long the worker has been here or how much they’ve contributed. For comparison, most U.S. workers get severance and time to look for a new job without the threat of immediate removal. This provision (SEC. 3) ensures that the H-2C program is purely about filling immediate labor needs, not offering a long-term stay.

The Employer’s Hurdles: Proving the Scarcity

To access this new labor pool, employers must jump through several hoops. First, they must register with DHS, proving they are legitimate, tax-compliant, and operating in a low-unemployment area. They must then designate specific jobs as “registered positions.” These jobs cannot require a bachelor’s degree or higher, focusing this program squarely on trade, service, and other essential roles (Occupation Zones 1, 2, and 3, based on ONET data).

Crucially, employers must attest that they have tried to recruit U.S. workers and either failed to find qualified applicants or that the job is an “enduring job opening”—meaning it’s been vacant for over three months straight. To further prove this labor scarcity, the employer must pay a “Scarcity Recruitment Fee” equal to 5% of the H-2C worker’s estimated annual pay to the Secretary. This fee is meant to show the employer is serious about the lack of U.S. workers. Employers are also banned from laying off a U.S. worker in the same occupation and area 45 days before or after hiring an H-2C worker, unless they offer the laid-off worker the job back first.

Who Benefits and Who Pays the Price?

This bill offers clear benefits to employers, especially small businesses (who get a reserved share of the annual cap, which starts at 65,000 positions), by giving them a structured way to combat labor shortages in tight markets. After one year with their initial employer, H-2C workers gain portability, meaning they can switch to a new registered employer, offering a small measure of control over their employment.

However, the bill also mandates an impact study (SEC. 3) within three years to assess the program’s effect on participating metro areas—specifically looking at housing prices, healthcare access, and, most importantly, U.S. worker wages. This acknowledges the concern that bringing in a large, temporary, and highly vulnerable labor force could strain local infrastructure or suppress wages if the employer attestations of labor scarcity aren’t entirely accurate. The mandatory deportation rule for 45 days of unemployment places enormous power in the hands of employers, making H-2C workers highly dependent on maintaining continuous employment to avoid removal proceedings.