H-2A Program

Agricultural Recruitment Program (H-2A Program)

The H-2A temporary agricultural program allows agricultural employers who anticipate a shortage of domestic workers to bring nonimmigrant foreign workers to the United States to perform agricultural labor or services of a temporary or seasonal nature. Employment of a seasonal nature is tied to a certain time of year by an event or pattern, such as a short annual growing cycle, and requires labor levels above what is necessary for ongoing operations.

Agricultural employers can receive assistance in obtaining farm workers through the H-2A program. Employers must show that there are no local workers available for the job. Applications are reviewed to determine whether prevailing hourly wages, working conditions, and housing and transportation arrangements have an adverse effect on domestic workers.

More information

Information for applying for H-2A workers may be found on the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Program page on the U.S. Department of Labor website.

The department provides the following services to agricultural employers:

• Post agricultural clearance orders
• Housing inspection for agricultural clearance orders
• Agricultural wage information
• Technical assistance on federal and state regulations governing housing inspections
• Opportunity for participation in the Workforce Employer Outreach Committee