--- description: Residents of Haiti, Belize and Samoa are no longer eligible for temporary H-2A and H-2B visas, the Department of Homeland Security said. title: Haitians Are No Longer Eligible for Temporary Work Visas in the U.S. image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48f5b95f11b3456b/6988f8a3bc6cfc53563e4b1b/haiti-trump.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Haiti](/tag/haiti/) ## Haiti Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Haitians Are No Longer Eligible for Temporary Work Visas in the U.S.  by [Jamie Ducharme](/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Jan 18, 2018 12:59 PM CUT  Demonstrators hold Haitian and American flags during a protest against U.S. President Donald Trump. Demonstrators hold Haitian and American flags during a protest against U.S. President Donald Trump.Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images  by [Jamie Ducharme](/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Jan 18, 2018 12:59 PM CUT Amidst tension over President Donald Trump’s stance on immigration from certain countries, residents of Haiti, Belize and Samoa will lose eligibility for temporary agricultural and seasonal work visas this year, according to [a notice from the Department of Homeland Security](https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2018-00812.pdf "undefined"). The DHS allows U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to grant H-2A and H-2B visas to citizens of roughly 80 countries, so that they may travel to the U.S. to fill temporary job openings. But a notice set to be published in the Federal Register on Thursday says starting Jan. 18, and continuing through that date next year, the list will be three countries shorter. Haiti’s removal has attracted special attention, given that DHS recently announced that Haiti’s [Temporary Protected Status designation](http://time.com/4788688/homeland-security-secretary-extends-protections-for-haitians-for-6-months/ "undefined") — which allowed Haitians to live and work in the U.S. following the country’s 2010 earthquake — [will end in July 2019](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/temporary-protected-status/temporary-protected-status-designated-country-haiti "undefined"). The Caribbean nation was also among those Trump reportedly [referred to as “shithole” countries](http://time.com/5100058/donald-trump-shithole-countries/ "undefined") during a recent immigration meeting. (Trump [has denied using that language](http://time.com/5100480/donald-trump-daca-tweets/ "undefined"), but stood by [the policy he was discussing](http://time.com/5101057/donald-trump-shithole-countries-tps-daca/ "undefined").) The DHS notice cites “extremely high rates of refusal” among Haitians applying for H-2A or H-2B visas and “high levels of fraud and abuse and a high rate of overstaying the terms of their H-2 admission” as reasons for removing the country from the program. Belize, according to the notice, will be eliminated based on its failure to meet the standards of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Samoa, meanwhile, has been deemed at risk of non-compliance when it comes to reaccepting nationals who have been deported from the U.S. Mongolia will join the list of accepted countries in 2018, according to the report. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5107546/haiti-temporary-visa-eligibility/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5107546/haiti-temporary-visa-eligibility/"},"headline":"Haitians Are No Longer Eligible for Temporary Work Visas in the U.S.","datePublished":"2018-01-18T12:59:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:55:06.761Z","description":"Belize and Samoa were also dropped from the list","url":"https://time.com/5107546/haiti-temporary-visa-eligibility/","keywords":["Haiti","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48f5b95f11b3456b/6988f8a3bc6cfc53563e4b1b/haiti-trump.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jamie Ducharme","jobTitle":"Ducharme is a contributor to TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48f5b95f11b3456b/6988f8a3bc6cfc53563e4b1b/haiti-trump.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Demonstrators Attend A Protest Against President Trump At Mar-a-Lago","caption":"Demonstrators Attend A Protest Against President Trump At Mar-a-Lago","creditText":"Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/haiti/","name":"Haiti"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5107546/haiti-temporary-visa-eligibility/","name":"Haitians Are No Longer Eligible for Temporary Work Visas in the U.S."}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Responses to President Trump's 'Shithole Countries' Comment","description":"President Donald Trump reportedly singled out Haiti, El Salvador and parts of Africa as “shithole countries” during a rant about immigration Thursday.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/FZ4fu9i8/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-01-12T19:18:48.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FZ4fu9i8.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5107546/haiti-temporary-visa-eligibility/","duration":"PT1M53S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5107546/haiti-temporary-visa-eligibility/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```