—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is seeking comments from the public on the proposed prevailing wage rates received from the Guam Department of Labor for construction workers in Guam employed under the H-2B temporary worker program, and the system the governor of Guam uses to determine the rates.
The H-2B visa program allows U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the U.S. to fill temporary nonagricultural jobs, provided there are no qualified U.S. workers available to fill the positions and that hiring such foreign nationals will not adversely affect the wages or working conditions of U.S. workers.
Guam is expecting a substantial increase in the number of construction-related jobs over the next several years due to the relocation of large-scale U.S. military facilities from Japan to Guam. Guam’s proposal addresses 17 construction worker categories with current hourly wages ranging from $10.98 to $16.80. The proposed wages range from $11.61 to $17.62. Details on USCIS’s proposal may be found in the Federal Register Notice at 76 FR 14679.
The current construction wage rates in Guam will remain in effect until new prevailing wage rates are formally approved by USCIS. Once final, new prevailing wage rates will be effective at a date to be announced by USCIS for all Guam H-2B temporary labor certifications and petitions filed on behalf of construction workers in Guam.
USCIS encourages the public to comment on the proposed wage rates for H-2B construction workers in Guam and the system used to determine the rates. The public has 30 days—from March 17, 2011, to April 18, 2011—to submit comments on this proposal, which is available for viewing at www.regulations.gov.
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