美国国土安全部(DHS)与美国国务院(DOS)磋商，宣布了有资格在2021年参加H-2A和H-2B签证项目的国家名单，国家名单将于2021年1月13日在联邦公报上公布，名单有效期为2021年1月19日到2022年1月18日。其中的主要变化包括：将菲律宾列入有资格参加H-2B项目的国家名单；剔除萨摩亚，汤加和蒙古。注意，中国并不在名单当中。

国土安全部有权随时将国家加入“合格国家名单”，并在公布新名单时剔除任何国家。H-2A和H-2B签证项目允许美国雇主雇佣外国公民到美国从事临时农业和非农业工作。通常，USCIS只批准国土安全部指定的有资格参加项目的国家的公民的H-2A和H-2B申请。然而，USCIS可能会批准不在国家名单上，但有证据能证明美国的利益的个案申请。

本通知不影响目前在美国的H-2受益人的身份，也不会影响在通知发布日期之前已经批准的H-2申请人进入美国的资格，但会影响在公告发布之日或之后提出H-2延期申请的申请人，同时也会影响在美国需要将身份变更为H-2A或H-2B的申请人。

DHS Announces Countries Eligible for H-2A and H-2B Visa Programs

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in consultation with the Department of State (DOS), have announced the list of countries whose nationals are eligible to participate in the H-2A and H-2B visa programs in 2021. The notice listing the eligible countries will be published in the Federal Register on Jan. 13, 2021.

For 2021, the acting secretary of homeland security and the secretary of state have agreed to:

Add the Philippines to the list of countries eligible to participate in the H-2B program;

No longer designate the Independent State of Samoa and Tonga as eligible countries because they no longer meet the regulatory standards for the H-2A and H-2B visa programs; and

No longer designate Mongolia as an eligible country for the H-2A visa program because it no longer meets the regulatory standards for that program.

DHS maintains its authority to add countries to the eligible countries list at any time, and to remove any country at the time it publishes a new list, should DHS and DOS determine that a country fails to meet the requirements for continued designation. Examples of factors that could result in the exclusion of a country or the removal of a country from the list include fraud, abuse, denial rates, overstay rates, human trafficking concerns, and other forms of noncompliance with the terms and conditions of the H-2 visa programs by nationals of that country that are contrary to U.S. interest.

The H-2A and H-2B visa programs allow U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary agricultural and nonagricultural jobs, respectively. Typically, USCIS approves H-2A and H-2B petitions only for nationals of countries that the secretary of Homeland Security has designated as eligible to participate in the programs. However, USCIS may approve H-2A and H-2B petitions, including those that were pending as of the date of the Federal Register notice, for nationals of countries not on the list on a case-by-case basis only if doing so is determined to be in the interest of the United States based on submitted evidence.