Hospitality businesses are reporting that an increase of J-1 visas that allow international students to work here in the summer, is helping them during the busy tourist season.
In 2019 more than 3,000 J-1 visa participants were in the Summer Work Travel Program here in Maine. During the pandemic those numbers dropped, but when travel restrictions were lifted resorts and restaurants did not have enough staff. This season more than 2,800 Summer Work Travel visas have been issued.
Becky Jacobson, interim executive director of Hospitality Maine, says the increase in J-1 visas has been a big help to summer businesses.
"There has been an increase in J-1 workers and H-2B workers in the state, along with residents who have returned to the workforce," Jacobson said. "A lot of our members are saying there isn't the dire shortage they had last year."
The H-2B visa program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor has come under fire from Senators Susan Collins and Angus King, who say the department has failed to efficiently process more than 2,000 H-2B visas Maine businesses applied for this year.
Jacobson says she hopes that Congress passes an exemption for returning workers who have already been approved for H-2B visas so they can avoid the application process next year.
"There is included in the current appropriations committee for 2024, a returning worker exemption which would exclude returning H-2B workers from the cap," she said.
