The H-2A Seasonal Agricultural Worker program provides access to foreign workers to work in the United States on a temporary basis.
Through the H-2A program, American employers or agents who meet specific requirements can hire foreign workers in temporary employment positions exclusively in the agricultural sector.
Among the requirements to be part of the H-2A Nonimmigrant program, the employer must: offer a temporary job, demonstrate that there are not enough capable, willing, qualified and available U.S. workers to perform the temporary work, also demonstrate that the hiring of H-2A employees will not affect the wages or working conditions of national employees and present a single valid Temporary Employment Certification issued by the United States Department of Labor (DOL).
There is currently no official job bank where workers can consult job offers from companies that are part of this program. However, the government of the United States and also the Mexican, offer information and verified sites that publish job offers.
The Government of Mexico offers this type of information through the National Employment Service: https://www.empleo.gob.mx/SNE.
Through the Seasonal Jobs site, the US government publishes H-2A job postings for foreign farm workers: https://seasonaljobs.dol.gov/.
It is important to stay informed about employers and not fall for fraud. There are sites like contratados.org , in which workers who have accessed an H-2A visa share their experience with recruiters and employers.
Some data to keep in mind are:
- Recruiters do NOT charge applicants for their services, but the employer.
- The consulate has the final decision whether or not to grant such a visa.
- Wages generally range from $ 7.25 to $ 15 an hour.
- Employment is temporary, that is, less than one year.
- Only agricultural jobs are offered.
Learn more at the following link: https://www.uscis.gov/es/trabajar-en-los-estados-unidos/trabajadores-temporales-no-inmigrantes/trabajadores-agricolas-temporales-h-2a
