The H-2A and H-2B Seasonal Worker Visas

H-2A and H-2B are temporary work visas for a specific U.S. employer and a specific season — H-2A for agricultural work, H-2B for non-agricultural seasonal work such as landscaping, hospitality, seafood processing, or construction support. Before either visa can be requested, the employer must go through the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to prove there aren't enough available U.S. workers and that hiring a foreign worker won't undercut wages or working conditions in that area. Workers have real, enforceable protections under this process — including a flat legal ban on recruiters or employers charging you for the job.

The basics: what each visa covers

• H-2A (agricultural) — seasonal or temporary farm labor: planting, harvesting, herding, and related work. There is no annual numerical cap on H-2A visas.
• H-2B (non-agricultural) — seasonal or temporary non-farm labor: hotels and resorts, landscaping, seafood/crab processing, forestry, carnivals, and similar industries with a peak-load, seasonal, intermittent, or one-time need. H-2B has a statutory annual cap (historically 66,000 visas, split between the first and second half of the fiscal year), though Congress or the Department of Homeland Security has in some years authorized additional supplemental visas. Because the cap and any supplemental numbers change year to year, check current availability at uscis.gov before relying on a specific number.

Both visas are employer-specific and time-limited. Your permission to be in the United States and to work is tied to the job and the period listed on your approved petition and Form I-94 arrival record — not to you personally as a free-floating work permit.

What the employer has to do first

An employer cannot simply hire you and bring you over. Before filing anything with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the employer must:

1. File a job order with the state workforce agency and, for H-2A, recruit U.S. workers first — advertising the job at the wage and conditions offered to the foreign worker, for a set period, to see if a qualified U.S. worker will take it.
2. Get a Temporary Labor Certification from the DOL (filed through DOL's Foreign Labor Application Gateway), which confirms there weren't enough able, willing, qualified U.S. workers and that employing H-2 workers won't adversely affect wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers.
3. File Form I-129 with USCIS, attaching the approved labor certification, to actually request the H-2A or H-2B classification for you.

That certified job order is a legal document. It has to spell out the actual job duties, wage, hours, and — for H-2A — housing and transportation terms. Whatever the certified job order promises is what the employer is legally required to deliver. Keep a copy if you can, and compare it against what you're actually told to do and paid once you arrive.

Wage and housing protections

Employers must pay at least the highest of the applicable wage rates — for H-2A, that generally means the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR), the prevailing wage, any collective bargaining rate, or the state/federal minimum wage, whichever is highest. H-2B uses a similar prevailing-wage floor. DOL's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) enforces these wage rules, along with hours, deductions, and — for H-2A — a guarantee to offer work for at least three-fourths of the contract period, employer-provided or reimbursed transportation to the job site, and free housing when the job isn't within reasonable daily commuting distance. H-2B has its own set of required disclosures and wage protections under DOL fact sheets, though the housing guarantee is not automatic the way it is for H-2A.

You should receive a written work contract or job order before you leave your home country, in a language you understand where required. Check the current DOL fact sheets for H-2A and H-2B at dol.gov/agencies/whd for the specifics that apply to your job.

It is illegal for anyone to charge you for the job

This is one of the most important protections in the program, and one of the most commonly violated: employers, their agents, and recruiters are legally barred from charging H-2A or H-2B workers any fee connected to getting the job — including "processing" fees, the employer's own attorney or agent fees, DHS filing fees, or recruitment costs. This applies whether the recruiter is in the U.S. or overseas, and employers can be held liable even for fees charged by outside labor contractors or recruiters they used, if they didn't legally prohibit those fees in their contract with the recruiter.

If someone — a "recruiter," a labor contractor, a person claiming connections to a U.S. farm or hotel, or a notario — asks you to pay money, hand over a deposit, or sign over property to secure an H-2A or H-2B job, that is a red flag for fraud. Legitimate recruitment for these visas does not require you to pay the worker's own way onto the job order.

What to do

1. Before you agree to anything: ask for the name of the actual U.S. employer and the DOL case number for the job order, and verify the job exists through official channels rather than trusting a recruiter's word alone.
2. Never pay a recruitment, processing, or "guaranteed job" fee. If you already paid one, keep every receipt, text message, and contact name — this is evidence for a complaint.
3. Get everything in writing — the job duties, hourly wage, hours per week, housing and transportation terms — before you travel.
4. Once working, keep your own pay records (pay stubs, hours worked) so you can compare them to what the certified job order promised.
5. If you want to change to a different H-2 employer, the new employer generally has to file a new Form I-129 petition on your behalf. Under the H-2 rules in effect since early 2025, an H-2 worker in valid status may generally begin working for the new employer as soon as that employer properly files the petition (as shown by the USCIS receipt notice) or on the requested start date, whichever is later — you cannot simply switch jobs on your own without a new employer's petition. Because portability rules and their conditions can change, confirm the current rule at uscis.gov.
6. If you believe your rights were violated, you can file a confidential complaint with DOL's Wage and Hour Division, which enforces H-2A and H-2B wage and job-order requirements, without needing to reveal your immigration status to your employer.

The hard deadline: your I-94 date

Your Form I-94 arrival record sets the date by which you must either leave the United States, transition to a new, timely-filed H-2 petition, or otherwise have a lawful basis to remain. Staying beyond that date without an approved extension or new petition can trigger unlawful presence, which can carry serious future consequences for reentry. Always check your own I-94 record at i94.cbp.dhs.gov and don't rely on an employer's word about your status deadline.

Under the H-2 rules in effect since early 2025, if your job ends before your authorized stay is over, there is generally a grace period of up to 60 days (or until your existing authorized period ends, whichever is shorter) during which you may look for a new qualifying H-2 employer or prepare to leave without immediately falling out of status. This is a limited window, not a new work permit, and the specifics can change — confirm the current rule at uscis.gov and consult a qualified immigration attorney about your own timeline.

If something goes wrong

• Wage, hour, housing, or job-order violations: DOL Wage and Hour Division, dol.gov/agencies/whd.
• Discrimination based on citizenship status or national origin in hiring: DOJ Civil Rights Division's Immigrant and Employee Rights Section, justice.gov/crt.
• Visa petition fraud or scam recruiters: USCIS's fraud reporting page at uscis.gov/scams-fraud-misconduct.
• Notario or fake "immigration consultant" fraud: report to DOJ's Executive Office for Immigration Review Fraud and Abuse Prevention Program at justice.gov/eoir.

In the United States, only a licensed attorney or a Department of Justice–accredited representative may give you legal advice about your immigration case. A "notario público" is not the same as an attorney and generally cannot represent you before USCIS or an immigration court.

This article is general information, not legal advice, and doesn't create an attorney-client relationship. Immigration and employment mistakes in the H-2 process can affect your status and future ability to work in the U.S. — consider consulting a qualified immigration attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative, and never pay anyone for a "guaranteed" H-2 job.