USA Green Card Immigration Blog

On December 8, 2009, the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) introduced a pilot program system to exit all H-2A and H-2B temporary workers from the United States of America. Authorities estimated that this program will at least last a year. They also mentioned that the program is to be conducted at San Luis and Douglas land ports of entry in Arizona.

The temporary worker exit pilot program’s main purpose is to ascertain the departure of temporary workers from the United States of America once their work authorization period ends. Apart from this, the temporary worker exit pilot program will also help to protect the United States borders more effectively. It will also benefit in updating already present visitor worker programs.

H-2A and H-2B visas are meant for temporary seasonal workers. H-2A visas are issued to certain non-immigrant workers to perform agricultural labor or services. On the other hand, H-2B visas are given for temporary workers to work in non-agricultural jobs.

The H-2A and H-2B non-immigrant temporary workers will have to verify their final departure from the United States of America at an exit kiosk located at the port of departure. The temporary workers should scan their visa and fingerprints and return their I-94, arrival/departure form at the kiosk. These H-2A and H-2B temporary workers at San Luis or Douglas ports of entry must also are required to exit through one of the two designated ports.

Temporary workers who frequently commute to the United States will have the need to register only their final departure from the country. From December 8, H-2A and H-2B temporary workers whose authorized period of stay concludes are required to register during their exit.

According to the authorities, in the year 2009, more than 205,000 H-2 temporary workers crossed into the United States, out of which over more than 147,000 were H-2A visa holders and more than 58,000 were H-2B visa holders.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 23rd, 2010 at 1:25 am and is filed under Immigration Reform. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.