Jan 18 2013

USCIS Publishes 2013 H-2A and H-2B Eligibility List

Federal regulations state that USCIS may only approve petitions for H-2A and H-2B nonimmigrant status from nationals of countries that have been designated for such status, as published in the Federal Register. The notice of countries must be renewed each year. This year’s notice has just been published and identifies 59 countries whose nationals are eligible to participate in the H-2A and H-2B nonimmigrant programs in the coming year. The list is the same as the previous year, but includes one new country: Grenada. The notice takes effect January 18, 2013.
Eligible countries include: Argentina,? Australia, ?Barbados, ?Belize, ?Brazil, ?Bulgaria, ?Canada, ?Chile,? Costa Rica,? Croatia, ?Dominican Republic, ?Ecuador, ?El Salvador, ?Estonia, ?Ethiopia, ?Fiji, ?Grenada, ?Guatemala, ?Haiti, ?Honduras, ?Hungary, ?Iceland, Ireland, ?Israel, ?Jamaica, ?Japan, ?Kiribati, ?Latvia,? Lithuania, ?Macedonia, ?Mexico, ?Moldova, ?Montenegro, ?Nauru, ?The Netherlands, ?Nicaragua,? New Zealand, ?Norway, ?Papua New Guinea, ?Peru, ?The Philippines, ?Poland, ?Romania, ?Samoa, ?Serbia, ?Slovakia, ?Slovenia, ?Solomon Islands, ?South Africa, ?South Korea, ?Spain, ?Switzerland, ?Tonga, ?Turkey, ?Tuvalu, ?Ukraine, ?United Kingdom,? Uruguay, and ?Vanuatu.