Countries eligible for H-2A & H-2B Visas recently announced by DHS
On November 10, 2021, DHS announced the countries whose nationals are eligible to participate in both the H-2A and H-2B visa programs.
United States (U.S.) employers may petition for skilled or unskilled foreign workers to meet temporary or seasonal needs in positions for which qualified U.S. workers are not available. The H-2 nonimmigrant classifications include H-2A for agricultural workers and H-2B for non-agricultural workers. The designation is effective from November 10, 2021, to November 10, 2022.
DHS considers several factors when deciding which countries to include for eligibility, including the country’s cooperation in receiving its citizens who are subject to a final order of removal from the U.S., and the number of orders of removal executed against nationals of that country. While the reasons to remove a country from the list include fraud, abuse, visa denial rates, overstay rates, human trafficking concerns, and noncompliance with H-2A and H-2B terms and conditions by nationals of that country, as well as evidence of economic impact on U.S. industries or regions resulting from the inclusion or exclusion of specific countries.
Nationals of the following countries are eligible to receive H-2A and H-2B visas:
H-2A Nonimmigrant Worker Program | H-2B nonimmigrant Worker Program |
1. Andorra
2. Argentina 3. Australia 4. Austria 5. Barbados 6. Belgium 7. Brazil 8. Brunei 9. Bulgaria 10. Canada 11. Chile 12. Colombia 13. Costa Rica 14. Croatia 15. Czech Republic 16. Denmark 17. Dominican Republic 18. Ecuador 19. El Salvador 20. Estonia 21. Fiji 22. Finland 23. France 24. Germany 25. Greece 26. Grenada 27. Guatemala 28. Honduras 29. Hungary 30. Iceland 31. Ireland 32. Israel 33. Italy 34. Jamaica 35. Japan 36. Kiribati 37. Latvia 38. Liechtenstein 39. Lithuania 40. Luxembourg 41. Madagascar 42. Malta 43. Mexico 44. Moldova 45. Monaco 46. Montenegro 47. Mozambique 48. Nauru 49. The Netherlands 50. New Zealand 51. Nicaragua 52. North Macedonia (formerly Macedonia) 53. Norway 54. Panama 55. Papua New Guinea 56. Paraguay 57. Peru 58. Poland 59. Portugal 60. Romania 61. San Marino 62. Serbia 63. Singapore 64. Slovakia 65. Slovenia 66. Solomon Islands 67. South Africa 68. South Korea 69. Spain 70. St. Vincent and the Grenadines 71. Sweden 72. Switzerland 73. Taiwan 74. Thailand 75. Timor-Leste 76. Turkey 77. Tuvalu 78. Ukraine 79. United Kingdom 80. Uruguay 81. Vanuatu |
1. Andorra
2. Argentina 3. Australia 4. Austria 5. Barbados 6. Belgium 7. Brazil 8. Brunei 9. Bulgaria 10. Canada 11. Chile 12. Colombia 13. Costa Rica 14. Croatia 15. Czech Republic 16. Denmark 17. Ecuador 18. El Salvador 19. Estonia 20. Fiji 21. Finland 22. France 23. Germany 24. Greece 25. Grenada 26. Guatemala 27. Honduras 28. Hungary 29. Iceland 30. Ireland 31. Israel 32. Italy 33. Jamaica 34. Japan 35. Kiribati 36. Latvia 37. Liechtenstein 38. Lithuania 39. Luxembourg 40. Madagascar 41. Malta 42. Mexico 43. Monaco 44. Mongolia 45. Montenegro 46. Mozambique 47. Nauru 48. The Netherlands 49. New Zealand 50. Nicaragua 51. North Macedonia (formerly Macedonia) 52. Norway 53. Panama 54. Papua New Guinea 55. Peru 56. Philippines 57. Poland 58. Portugal 59. Romania 60. San Marino 61. Serbia 62. Singapore 63. Slovakia 64. Slovenia 65. Solomon Islands 66. South Africa 67. South Korea 68. Spain 69. St. Vincent and the Grenadines 70. Sweden 71. Switzerland 72. Taiwan 73. Thailand 74. Timor-Leste 75. Turkey 76. Tuvalu 77. Ukraine 78. United Kingdom 79. Uruguay 80. Vanuatu |
We encourage clients to consult with experienced immigration attorneys if they qualify and on how to apply for these programs.
For further assistance, feel free to contact our office at 954-306-6921.