FY 2020 List of H2A and H2B Countries

On January 16, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in consultation with the Department of State (DOS), determined the countries whose nationals will be eligible to participate in the H2A and H2B visa programs in 2020. The H2A visa program is for temporary agricultural workers and the H2B visa program is for temporary non-agricultural workers. DHS published the notice in the Federal Register [PDF version]. The new list took effect on January 19, 2020.

Nearly every country that is eligible to participate in either the H2A or H2B program is eligible to participate in both. The only exceptions are Moldova, Paraguay, and the Dominican Republic, whose nationals are eligible to participate in the H2A program only. The following, courtesy of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), is a chart containing all of the H2A- and H2B-eligible countries for fiscal year 2020 [PDF version]:

The H2A and H2B programs are useful for qualifying U.S. employers and beneficiaries. Employers interested in petitioning for H2A or H2B workers should consult with an experienced immigration attorney, and beneficiaries should consult with an attorney for guidance regarding individual immigration situations.

For those interested in comparing, please see our archived articles on the 2019 [see blog] and 2018 [see blog] lists of countries whose nationals were eligible to participate in the H2A and H2B programs during those fiscal years.

Please see our growing selection of articles on work visas to learn more about nonimmigrant work visa programs generally [see category].