Por Pedro Bianco
En esta noticia
U.S. agriculture increasingly depends on temporary foreign workers to harvest crops, and the numbers bear it out: the H-2A visa program, which allows employers to hire seasonal farm labor, now accounts for about 400,000 jobs a year and has been growing at a record pace.
The U.S. seeks nearly 400,000 farmworkers
The size of the program was clear in the latest official data. In fiscal 2025 (October 2024 through September 2025), 398,258 jobs were certified under the H-2A program, or nearly 400,000. And the trend is still climbing: in the first half of fiscal 2026, certifications were up about 17% from the same period a year earlier, with about 254,688 jobs in that half alone. At that pace, fiscal 2026 could approach 435,000, a new record.
The largest concentration of jobs is in states with heavy agricultural activity such as Florida, Georgia, Washington, California and North Carolina, which together account for about half the total. The vast majority of workers in the program come from Mexico.
What the H-2A visa is
The H-2A is a temporary visa that allows U.S. agricultural employers to hire foreign workers for seasonal jobs when they cannot find enough local workers.
It is an employer-driven program: it is not a visa a person can apply for on their own without a job offer, but rather the company initiates and carries out the process to bring in workers.
What jobs it covers
The program is designed for temporary or seasonal agricultural work. The most common jobs are those tied to planting, cultivating and, above all, harvesting fruits, vegetables and other crops.
Depending on the operation, it can also cover livestock work, dairy farms, greenhouse agriculture and related activities. The key requirement is that it be seasonal work, not a permanent year-round job.
How the program works
The H-2A process involves three agencies and always starts with the employer. First, the employer applies to the Labor Department for a labor certification, showing that there are not enough available U.S. workers for the job and that hiring foreign workers will not harm the wages or working conditions of local workers.
With that certification, the employer files a petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Once the petition is approved, the workers apply for the H-2A visa at a U.S. consulate in their home country.
The stay is temporary: in general, it is granted for the length of the season (up to about one year) and can be extended, up to a total of three years, after which the worker must leave the country before being able to apply again.