An H-2A visa is a temporary U.S. work visa that lets agricultural employers hire foreign nationals for seasonal or short-term farm jobs when they cannot find enough domestic workers to fill them.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1188 – Admission of Temporary H-2A Workers It is created by the Immigration and Nationality Act and administered jointly by the Department of Labor, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the State Department. The program is large: nearly 400,000 positions were certified in fiscal year 2025. It also comes with heavy employer obligations, including guaranteed wages, free housing, and travel reimbursement, along with specific rules for workers about how long they can stay and how their pay is taxed.
What Work and Which Workers Qualify
The H-2A visa covers agricultural work that is temporary or seasonal. Seasonal work is tied to a predictable event like a growing cycle or harvest. Temporary work covers a short-term employer need lasting no longer than one year.2U.S. Department of Labor. H-2A Temporary Agricultural Program Eligible jobs include planting, cultivating, and harvesting crops, livestock work, and certain on-farm food processing.
The worker must be a citizen of a country that the Department of Homeland Security has designated as eligible. DHS publishes the list annually in the Federal Register, and it usually includes roughly 85 to 90 countries. USCIS will generally approve H-2A petitions only for nationals of a listed country, though case-by-case exceptions are possible when in the national interest.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. DHS Announces Countries Eligible for H-2A and H-2B Visa Programs
How an Employer Gets H-2A Workers
Three federal agencies handle the H-2A process in sequence.
Labor Certification
The employer starts by filing Form ETA-9142A with the Department of Labor at least 45 calendar days before the workers are needed.4eCFR. 20 CFR Part 655 Subpart B – Labor Certification Process for Temporary Employment in Agriculture The application must show two things: that there are not enough domestic workers able, willing, and available to fill the positions, and that hiring foreign workers will not lower wages or hurt working conditions for U.S. workers in the same area.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1188 – Admission of Temporary H-2A Workers
The employer submits a job order, advertises the positions locally, and must keep hiring qualified U.S. workers who apply until 50 percent of the work contract period has elapsed. This 50-percent rule does not apply to smaller operations that used fewer than 500 man-days of agricultural labor in the preceding year.
Employer Petition
Once DOL issues an approved Temporary Labor Certification, the employer files Form I-129 with USCIS and includes the original certification. The base filing fee is $325, and H-2A petitions do not carry the $150 fraud prevention and detection fee that applies to H-2B.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-2A and H-2B Nonimmigrant Worker Classifications USCIS expedites these petitions because of the time-sensitive nature of agricultural work.6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-2A Temporary Agricultural Workers
Visa Issuance
After USCIS approves the petition, each worker applies for the actual visa at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate. The worker completes Form DS-160, the online nonimmigrant visa application, and attends an interview.7U.S. Department of State. DS-160 – Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application At the interview, the worker presents a valid passport (generally valid for at least six months beyond the planned stay), the petition receipt number from the approved I-129, and the DS-160 confirmation page.8U.S. Department of State. Temporary Worker Visas The consular application fee is $190, which the employer must reimburse in the worker’s first paycheck. Once the visa is issued, the worker travels to a U.S. port of entry where Customs and Border Protection finalizes admission.
What the Employer Must Provide
Wages
Employers must pay at least the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR), a special minimum wage set annually to keep the program from pulling down local farm pay. The AEWR varies by state for most agricultural jobs and is based on USDA farm labor survey data. For range occupations such as herding and livestock production on the range, DOL publishes a separate national monthly AEWR, set at $2,132.41 per month for 2026.9Federal Register. Adverse Effect Wage Rate for Range Occupations If a state or federal minimum wage, or a prevailing wage for the occupation, is higher than the AEWR, the employer pays whichever rate is highest.
Housing
Housing must be provided at no cost to the worker. Employer-owned housing must meet federal safety standards issued by the Employment and Training Administration and OSHA, and a state workforce agency inspects it, typically when the employer submits the job order.10U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 26 – Section H-2A of the Immigration and Nationality Act
Transportation
Employers cover or arrange inbound travel from the worker’s home to the job site and daily transportation between the housing and the work location. Transportation costs and daily living costs the worker paid during travel to the job site must be reimbursed, though that reimbursement is not due until the worker completes 50 percent of the contract period.11Farmers.gov. H-2A Visa Program for Temporary Workers When the contract ends, or the worker is terminated early without cause, the employer also pays for return transportation home.
The Three-Fourths Guarantee
The employer must guarantee each worker enough hours to equal at least three-fourths of the total workdays in the contract period. If the actual hours fall short because of weather, reduced demand, or anything else, the employer still owes the worker what those guaranteed hours would have paid. The guarantee runs from the worker’s arrival at the job site (or the advertised start date, whichever is later) through the contract’s end date.12U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 26E – Job Hours and the Three-Fourths Guarantee Under the H-2A Program
How Long a Worker Can Stay
The initial authorized stay matches the period on the approved labor certification, often a single growing season. Extensions can be requested in increments of up to one year, and each extension needs a new labor certification. The maximum total time in H-2A status is three years.6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-2A Temporary Agricultural Workers
After hitting three years, the worker must leave the United States for an uninterrupted period of at least 60 days before qualifying for H-2A again. A 60-day absence at any point, not only after reaching the cap, resets the clock and starts a new three-year window. Brief business or pleasure trips to the U.S. during the 60 days abroad do not count toward the required time out, but they also do not interrupt it.
Family Members
The worker’s spouse and unmarried children under 21 can apply for H-4 dependent status. H-4 dependents can attend school, and their authorized stay tracks the primary worker’s admission. They cannot work in the United States.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1101 – Definitions
Taxes on H-2A Wages
H-2A wages are exempt from Social Security and Medicare taxes (FICA), whether the worker is a resident or nonresident alien. Employers should not enter any amount in the Social Security or Medicare wage boxes on Form W-2, and should exclude H-2A wages from those lines on Form 943.14Internal Revenue Service. Foreign Agricultural Workers on H-2A Visas
Federal income tax withholding is not mandatory on H-2A wages either. If the employer and worker both agree, the employer can withhold federal income tax voluntarily, in which case the worker submits a completed Form W-4. If a worker does not provide a valid taxpayer identification number and earns $600 or more in the year, backup withholding at 24 percent kicks in automatically, and an employer that fails to apply it can be held liable for the tax that should have been withheld.15Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 760 – Form 943 Reporting and Deposit Requirements for Agricultural Employers
Nonresident-alien H-2A workers who owe federal income tax, or who want to claim a treaty exemption, file Form 1040-NR. Workers who skip voluntary withholding but expect to owe may need to make estimated payments using Form 1040-ES (NR). A worker who cannot obtain a Social Security number can apply for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number using Form W-7.
Penalties for Employer Violations
The Department of Labor can fine employers for violating H-2A work contracts or program rules, with amounts tied to how severe the violation is:
- Up to $2,166 per violation for standard breaches of a contract term or program requirement.
- Up to $7,289 per violation for willful breaches or discrimination against workers.
- Up to $72,164 per worker when a housing or transportation safety failure directly causes death or serious injury.
- Up to $144,329 per worker for repeat or willful safety violations causing death or serious injury.16eCFR. 29 CFR Part 501 Subpart B – Enforcement
DOL can also debar an employer from the H-2A program entirely. Grounds for debarment include failing to pay required wages, refusing to hire qualified U.S. workers, improperly displacing domestic employees, obstructing a DOL investigation, using H-2A workers outside the approved area or job description, and fraud or material misrepresentation in the application. A single serious violation can support debarment if it shows flagrant disregard for the law.17eCFR. 20 CFR 655.182 – Debarment