DHS Announces Countries Eligible for H-2A and H-2B Visa Programs

In this blog post, we share with you the list of countries whose nationals are eligible to participate in the H-2A and H-2B visa programs next year.

By law, DHS has the authority to update the eligible countries lists at any time by publishing a notice in the Federal Register, if the agency determines that a country fails to meet the requirements for continued designation.

The H-2A and H-2B visa programs enable U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary agricultural and nonagricultural jobs, respectively.

USCIS approves H-2A and H-2B petitions only for nationals of countries that the secretary of homeland security has designated as eligible to participate in the programs. However, USCIS may approve H-2A and H-2B petitions, including those that were pending as of the date of publication of the Federal Register Notice, for nationals of countries not on the lists on a case-by-case basis only if doing so is determined to be in the interest of the United States.

Beginning November 10, nationals of the following countries are eligible to receive H-2A and H-2B visas, including the Kingdom of Eswatini (Eswatini) which was recently added to the list of countries eligible to participate in the H-2A and H-2B programs.

To view the complete notice in the Federal Register please click here.

List of Eligible Countries

Andorra	The Kingdom of Eswatini	Madagascar	Saint Lucia
Argentina	Fiji	Malta	San Marino
Australia	Finland	Mauritius	Serbia
Austria	France	Mexico	Singapore
Barbados	Germany	Monaco	Slovakia
Belgium	Greece	Mongolia*	Slovenia
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Grenada	Montenegro	Solomon Islands
Brazil	Guatemala	Mozambique	South Africa
Brunei	Haiti	Nauru	South Korea
Bulgaria	Honduras	The Netherlands	Spain
Canada	Hungary	New Zealand	St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Chile	Iceland	Nicaragua	Sweden
Colombia	Ireland	North Macedonia	Switzerland
Costa Rica	Israel	Norway	Taiwan***
Croatia	Italy	Panama	Thailand
Republic of Cyprus	Jamaica	Papua New Guinea	Timor-Leste
Czech Republic	Japan	Paraguay**	Turkey
Denmark	Kiribati	Peru	Tuvalu
Dominican Republic	Latvia	The Philippines*	Ukraine
Ecuador	Liechtenstein	Poland	United Kingdom
El Salvador	Lithuania	Portugal	Uruguay
Estonia	Luxembourg	Romania	Vanuatu

*Mongolia and the Philippines are eligible to participate in the H-2B program but are not eligible to participate in the H-2A program.

**Paraguay is eligible to participate in the H-2A program but is not eligible to participate in the H-2B program.

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