5 new nations added to US H-2A, H-2B visa programs

United States, 19th January: The US immigration department has unveiled a new list of nations whose citizens will be eligible to apply for US H-2A and H-2B visa programs for the year 2012.

The list contains a total of 58 nations. The earlier list included 53 nations whose nationals were eligible for participation in the US H-2A, H-2B visa programs.

New nations added to US H-2A, H-2B visa programs—Among the new nations added by the USCIS(U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) include Spain, Iceland, Switzerland, Montenegro and Haiti.

These nations have been included in the list for the first time ever. Under the US H-2A and US H-2B visa program, employers are allowed to hire foreign professionals for working in the US.

While the US H-2A visa allows employers to hire foreign workers for filling temporary agricultural positions in the US, the US H-2B visa program, on the other hand, is used by employers for filling temporary job positions which are non-agricultural in nature.

It may be, however, mentioned that the USCIS has the jurisdiction to approve petitions for US H-2A and US H-2B visas from citizens of nations not included in the list provided it is found to be beneficial for the US.

Nationals of following 58 nations are eligible for participation in the US H-2A, US H-2B visa programs—

• Argentina

• Australia

• Belize

• Brazil

• Barbados

• Bulgaria

• Canada

• Costa Rica

• Croatia

• Chile

• Dominican Republic

• El Salvador

• Ecuador

• Ethiopia

• Estonia

• Fiji

• Guatemala

• Haiti

• Hungary

• Honduras

• Ireland

• Israel

• Iceland

• Japan

• Jamaica

• Kiribati

• Lithuania

• Latvia

• Mexico

• Montenegro

• Moldova

• Macedonia

• Nauru

• Nicaragua

• New Zealand

• Norway

• The Netherlands

• Peru

• Papua New Guinea

• Poland

• Philippines

• Romania

• Slovakia

• Slovenia

• South Africa

• Solomon Islands

• Serbia

• Samoa

• South Korea

• Spain

• Switzerland

• Turkey

• Tuvalu

• Tonga

• United Kingdom

• Uruguay

• Ukraine

• Vanuatu

It may be noted that temporary foreign workers currently living under the US H-2A or US H-2B visa programs in the US will not have any effect on their status unless they make application for extension of change of their US immigration status.