USCIS Announces 68 Countries Eligible to Participate in the H-2A and H-2B Visa Programs

From USCIS: USCIS and the Department of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Department of State, has added the Czech Republic, Denmark, Madagascar, Portugal, and Sweden to the list of countries whose nationals are eligible to participate in the H-2A and H-2B Visa programs for the coming year. The notice listing the 68 eligible countries published on Dec. 16, 2014 in the Federal Register.

The H-2A and H-2B Visa programs allow U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary agricultural and nonagricultural jobs, respectively. USCIS only approves H-2A and H-2B petitions for nationals of countries the Secretary of Homeland Security has designated as eligible to participate in the programs.

USCIS may approve H-2A and H-2B petitions for nationals of countries not on the list if it is determined to be in the interest of the United States.

Effective Jan. 18, 2015, nationals of the following 68 countries are eligible to participate in the H-2A and H-2B Visa programs:

Argentina	Fiji	Moldova	Slovenia
Australia	Grenada	Montenegro	Solomon Islands
Austria	Guatemala	Nauru	South Africa
Barbados	Haiti	The Netherlands	South Korea
Belize	Honduras	Nicaragua	Spain
Brazil	Hungary	New Zealand	Sweden
Bulgaria	Iceland	Norway	Switzerland
Canada	Ireland	Panama	Thailand
Chile	Israel	Papua New Guinea	Tonga
Costa Rica	Italy	Peru	Turkey
Croatia	Jamaica	The Philippines	Tuvalu
Czech Republic	Japan	Poland	Ukraine
Denmark	Kiribati	Portugal	United Kingdom
Dominican Republic	Latvia	Romania	Uruguay
Ecuador	Lithuania	Samoa	Vanuatu
El Salvador	Macedonia	Serbia
Estonia	Madagascar	Slovakia
Ethiopia	Mexico

This notice does not affect the status of beneficiaries who currently are in the United States in H-2A or H-2B status unless they apply to change or extend their status. Each country’s designation is valid for one year from Jan. 18, 2015.