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USCIS Announces 63 Countries Eligible to Participate in the H-2A and H-2B Visa Programs

Immigration, News Release

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced the Department of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Department of State, has added Austria, Italy, Panama, and Thailand 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 63 eligible countries published January 17, 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 non-agricultural jobs, respectively. Generally, 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, 2014, nationals of the following 63 countries are eligible to participate in the H-2A and H-2B Visa programs:

  1. Argentina
  2. Fiji
  3. Mexico
  4. Slovakia
  5. Australia
  6. Grenada
  7. Moldova
  8. Slovenia
  9. Austria
  10. Guatemala
  11. Montenegro
  12. Solomon Islands
  13. Barbados
  14. Haiti
  15. Nauru
  16. South Africa
  17. Belize
  18. Honduras
  19. The Netherlands
  20. South Korea
  21. Brazil
  22. Hungary
  23. Nicaragua
  24. Spain
  25. Bulgaria
  26. Iceland
  27. New Zealand
  28. Switzerland
  29. Canada
  30. Ireland
  31. Norway
  32. Thailand
  33. Chile
  34. Israel
  35. Panama
  36. Tonga
  37. Costa Rica
  38. Italy
  39. Papua New Guinea
  40. Turkey
  41. Croatia
  42. Jamaica
  43. Peru
  44. Tuvalu
  45. Dominican Republic
  46. Japan
  47. The Philippines
  48. Ukraine
  49. Ecuador
  50. Kiribati
  51. Poland
  52. United Kingdom
  53. El Salvador
  54. Latvia
  55. Romania
  56. Uruguay
  57. Estonia
  58. Lithuania
  59. Samoa
  60. Vanuatu
  61. Ethiopia
  62. Macedonia
  63. Serbia

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 January 18, 2014.

For more information on USCIS and its programs please visit www.uscis.gov.

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