I’m quoting the law here — please see below. As I said in the beginning this H2B visa can apply to anyone. If they stay “temporarily” ie they stay, leave, and come back. They are free to do it all over again. Indians working for the big technology outsourcing firms do this all the time.
“The H2B classification applies only to aliens who are coming temporarily to the United States to perform non- agricultural service or labor of a temporary or seasonal nature, other than graduates of medical schools coming to provide medical services, if unemployed persons capable of performing such work cannot be found in the United States.”
H-1BIn post 25, you said "I think you’re minimizing the impact. It applies to everyone with specialized skills, and that means everyone." I'm saying that I don't think H-2B visas apply to people with specialized skills, it applies to people with vocational skills. The H-1B is for people with specialized skills.The H-1B visa program is used by some U.S.employers to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in a specialized field and a bachelor's degree or its equivalent. Typical H-1B occupations include architects, engineers, computer programmers, accountants, doctors and college professors. The H-1B visa program also includes certain fashion models of distinguished merit and ability and up to 100 persons who will performing services of an exceptional nature in connection with Department of Defense (DOD) research and development projects or coproduction projects. The current annual cap on the H-1B category is 65,000. Not all H-1B nonimmigrants are subject to this annual cap.
H-2B
The H-2B visa category allows U.S. employers in industries with peak load, seasonal or intermittent needs to augment their existing labor force with temporary workers. The H-2B visa category also allows U.S. employers to augment their existing labor force when necessary due to a one-time occurrence which necessitates a temporary increase in workers. Typically, H-2B workers fill labor needs in occupational areas such as construction, health care, landscaping, lumber, manufacturing, food service/processing, and resort/hospitality services.
-PJ