The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in conjunction with the United States Secretary of State yesterday announced the countries whose nationals are eligible to participate in the H–2A and H–2B visa program for the upcoming year. USCIS may only approve H–2A and H–2B petitions for nationals of countries included among this list of countries. USCIS published the list the Federal Register on January 19, 2010.
The countries included on the list of countries whose nationals are eligible to participate in the H–2A and H–2B visa programs for one year period beginning January 18, 2010 through January 17, 2011 include: Argentina, Australia, Belize, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, Moldova, The Netherlands, Nicaragua, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and Uruguay.
If you have questions about or need assistance evaluating, commenting on or responding to this invitation or other employment, compensation, employee benefit, workplace health and safety, or corporate ethics and compliance practices, concerns or claims, please contact the author of this article, Curran Tomko Tarski LLP Labor & Employment Practice Group Chair Cynthia Marcotte Stamer. Board Certified in Labor & Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, Ms. Stamer is experienced assisting employers and others to design, administer and defend I-9 and other labor and employment, compensation, employee benefits, corporate ethics and compliance and other risk management practices. She also advises, assists, trains, audits and defends employers and others regarding the federal and state Sentencing Guideline and other compliance, equal employment opportunity, privacy, leave, compensation, workplace safety, wage and hour, workforce reengineering, and other labor and employment and defends related audits, investigations and litigation, charges, audits, claims and investigations by the IRS, Department of Labor and other federal and state regulators. Ms. Stamer has advised and represented employers on these and other labor and employment, compensation, employee benefit and other personnel and staffing matters for more than 22 years. Ms. Stamer also speaks and writes extensively on these and other related matters. For additional information about Ms. Stamer and her experience, see here or to access other publications by Ms. Stamer see here or contact Ms. Stamer directly. For additional information about the experience and services of Ms. Stamer and other members of the Curran Tomko Tarksi LLP team, see here.
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