The H-2A Visa: Temporary Agricultural Workers — Employer Requirements, Filing, and Compliance

Program Overview

The H-2A program allows US employers — including individual agricultural producers, US agents, and associations of US agricultural producers named as joint employers — to petition USCIS to bring foreign nationals into the United States to perform temporary agricultural work. The program is designed for agricultural labor only; non-agricultural temporary workers use the separate H-2B program.

The filing form depends on how the petition is being submitted: paper filers use Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker; electronic filers use the dedicated Form I-129H2A. USCIS provides expedited processing for H-2A I-129 petitions given the time-sensitive nature of agricultural work cycles. Questions about pending petitions can be directed to USCIS-H2A@uscis.dhs.gov.

Employer Qualification Requirements

To qualify for H-2A classification, the petitioning employer must establish all of the following:

• Temporary or seasonal job: The job for which H-2A workers are sought must be temporary or seasonal in nature.
• Insufficient US workers: There are not enough US workers who are able, willing, qualified, and available to perform the temporary agricultural work.
• No adverse effect: Employing H-2A workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed US workers.
• Valid Temporary Labor Certification (TLC): The employer must generally submit evidence of a single valid TLC from DOL with the H-2A petition. A limited exception exists for electronically filed petitions requesting unnamed beneficiaries — see below. Additional limited exceptions exist in certain "emergent circumstances" under 8 CFR 214.2(h)(5)(x).

Paper-Filed Petition Process (Form I-129)

Electronic Filing Process (Form I-129H2A)

Inquiring About a Pending Petition

USCIS provides expedited processing for H-2A petitions. Check status at any time through Case Status Online. If the petition has been pending for more than 15 days without a decision or RFE, contact the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283. For specific H-2A petition concerns, email USCIS-H2A@uscis.dhs.gov. USCIS will not respond to inquiries unrelated to H-2A petitions. Case-specific information is only provided to authorized individuals (petitioners and attorneys of record) — not to the beneficiary worker directly.

Effect of Prior Violation Determinations (January 2025 Rules)

Under new H-2 regulations effective January 17, 2025, USCIS has authority to deny H-2A petitions filed on or after that date if the petitioner or its predecessor has been found to have committed certain serious labor law violations or otherwise violated H-2A or H-2B program requirements. Key features of this authority:

• Denial authority spans both H-2A and H-2B classifications — a violation in one program can affect petitions in the other.
• Whether denial is mandatory or discretionary depends on the nature and severity of the past violation(s). See 8 CFR 214.2(h)(10)(iv).
• Criminal convictions or final administrative/judicial determinations against certain individuals associated with the petitioner are treated as determinations against the petitioner or successor in interest. See 8 CFR 214.2(h)(10)(iv)(C).
• USCIS applies successor-in-interest analysis under 8 CFR 214.2(h)(5)(xi)(C).

Prohibition on Collecting Fees from H-2A Workers

As a condition of H-2A petition approval, no job placement fee, fee or penalty for breach of contract, or other fee or compensation — directly or indirectly — related to the H-2A employment may be collected at any time from a beneficiary or any person acting on their behalf. Prohibited fees include:

• Deduction or withholding of wages or salary (even if framed as providing a benefit to the worker);
• Passing to the worker any cost that is by statute or regulation the responsibility of the petitioner.

USCIS will deny or revoke the petition if it determines that prohibited fees were collected or agreed to — by the petitioner, any of its employees, agents, attorneys, facilitators, recruiters, or any joint employer — whether before or after filing.

Period of Stay

USCIS may grant H-2A classification for up to the period of time authorized on the temporary labor certification. Extensions may be granted in increments of up to one year each, with a new valid TLC required for each extension. The maximum period of stay in H-2A classification is 3 years.

A worker who has been in H-2A status for a cumulative total of 3 years must depart and remain outside the US for an uninterrupted period of at least 60 days before they can be readmitted as an H-2A nonimmigrant. Time spent in other H or L classifications also counts toward the 3-year H-2A limit.

Resetting the 3-Year Maximum

A qualifying absence from the United States — an uninterrupted period outside the US of at least 60 days — resets the worker's H-2A eligibility to a new 3-year maximum. This "reset" can occur at any time, not only after the 3-year maximum has been reached. The absence must be uninterrupted; brief trips to the US for business or pleasure do not restart the clock (they are not interruptive) but also do not count toward the 60-day minimum period abroad.

The petitioner must provide evidence of the qualifying absence, which may include arrival and departure records, copies of tax returns, and records of employment abroad. A petitioner may file a separate petition for workers whose 3-year limits are being reset, to avoid potential delays in adjudication affecting other workers covered by the same petition.

Filing Multiple Petitions Under One TLC

Generally, one petition may cover all H-2A workers associated with one TLC, with a maximum of 25 named workers per petition. When multiple petitions are required or chosen (for example, one for named workers and one for unnamed), the following rules apply:

• The total number of beneficiaries across all petitions may not exceed the total number authorized on the TLC;
• Each petition must include a copy of the same TLC; and
• An attachment should note that other petitions are being filed based on the same TLC.

Family Members of H-2A Workers

An H-2A worker's spouse and unmarried children under 21 years of age may seek admission in H-4 nonimmigrant classification. H-4 family members are not eligible for employment in the United States. They may, however, attend school without needing a separate student visa.

Employment Notification Requirements

H-2A petitioners are required to notify USCIS within 2 workdays of any of the following employment events:

• The H-2A worker does not report for work within 5 workdays of the employment start date on the petition or the date established by the employer;
• The H-2A worker leaves without notice and does not report for work for 5 consecutive workdays without the employer's consent;
• The H-2A worker is terminated before completing the agricultural labor or services for which they were hired; or
• The H-2A worker finishes the work more than 30 days earlier than the end date on the H-2A petition.

The notification must identify: the reason for notification; the USCIS receipt number of the approved petition; the petitioner's name, address, phone number, and EIN; the employer's information if different from the petitioner; and the worker's full name, date of birth, place of birth, last known physical address and phone number, plus Social Security number and visa number if available.

Failure to notify: A petitioner who fails to comply with notification requirements, or fails to show good cause for untimely notification, may be assessed liquidated damages of $10 per instance of noncompliance.

Notifications should be sent by email to the California Service Center at CSC-X.H-2AAbs@uscis.dhs.gov (strongly recommended for timeliness), or by mail to USCIS California Service Center, P.O. Box 30113 / ALL OTHER (Attn: BCU Section), Tustin, CA 92781.

The notification requirement is a petitioner obligation. USCIS does not consider notification information alone to be conclusive evidence of any wrongdoing by the H-2A worker, and the notification does not reflect negatively on the worker's immigration record standing alone.

Frequently Asked Questions