Understanding our H-2A Employer Data Hub
On Feb. 25, 2022, we launched the H-2A Employer Data Hub to provide information on U.S. employers or U.S. agents (H-2A petitioners) petitioning for H-2A workers. The data hub provides an additional layer of transparency to the H-2A program by allowing the public to search for H-2A petitioners by fiscal year, employer (petitioner) name, city, state, ZIP code, worksite state, North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code, and Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code.
We process an average of 8 million applications, petitions, and requests annually. These include more than half a million Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker including petitions for H-2A workers and other employment-based nonimmigrant workers. We receive many requests from Congress, research institutions, the media, and the public about the H-2A program and how the H-2A visas are allocated by petitioner information or job type. We strive to make as much data about our operations available to the public as possible. We do so to improve understanding of the immigration system and to comply with our reporting mandates.
How We Collect the Data
Employers or agents petitioning for temporary agricultural workers must obtain a single valid temporary employment certification (TLC) from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), before filing a Form I-129 with USCIS. The data in the H-2A Employer Data Hub are from fields on an employer’s Form I-129, from USCIS’ adjudicative decisions, and from the DOL H-2A Application for Temporary Employment Certification (Form ETA-9142A (PDF)) and DOL H-2A Agricultural Clearance Order (Form ETA-790A (PDF)). The approval and denial data in the data hub reflect USCIS’s first adjudicative decision. The data does not include later decisions, such as a decision on an appeal or revocation of an approved petition. The data hub does not include petitions that are pending adjudication when USCIS generates the data. Four data elements included in the data hub are from the DOL Temporary Employment Certification, specifically the SOC code, NAICS code, wage level, and worksite state. DOL provides quarterly H-2A TLC Disclosure data on its public website.
We merge DOL Forms ETA-9142A and ETA-790A data with USCIS data by matching the ETA case number listed on Form I-129. We did not include the ETA Case Number data in USCIS’ data systems until fiscal year 2018. As such, data from the DOL Forms ETA-9142A and ETA-790A (SOC code, NAICS code, wage level, and worksite state) are not available in the H-2A Employer Data Hub for FY 2015 through FY 2017.
Data Accuracy
We strive to ensure that the data in our electronic systems are accurate; however, because we transfer data from paper forms into the electronic systems manually, data entry errors may occur. Additionally, the petitioner (or their representative or preparer) reports information on a paper form, so there may be errors on the forms when we receive them. For example, a petitioner may mix up numbers in their tax identification number.
Data entry and petitioner errors may result in a missing or erroneous employer name (or both), tax ID, state, city, or ZIP code in our electronic systems.
You can find information on the accuracy and disclosure of DOL temporary labor certification data on the DOL website. We do not have any rights or privileges to DOL data except that which is made available to the public and therefore we cannot attest to the quality of the data.
How We Organize and Maintain the Data Hub
We aggregate the counts of initial approval, initial denial, continuing approval, and continuing denial by fiscal year, employer tax ID, employer state, city, ZIP code, worksite state, two-digit NAICS code, two-digit SOC code, wage level, and whether visas were consular processed. For example, one employer with several addresses in a given fiscal year will have multiple rows in the data. We use the most common spelling of employer name per unique tax ID.
We anticipate updating the H-2A Employer Data Hub quarterly and providing downloadable data files. For example, we will provide data for the first quarter (October-December) of a fiscal year in April of the fiscal year. This timeline allows us to receive and process petitions as well as download and merge DOL data for each quarter.
H-2A Employer Data Hub Glossary
| Data Field | Data Field Description |
|---|---|
| Fiscal Year | The fiscal year in which USCIS first recorded an approval or denial in the electronic systems. USCIS follows the U.S. federal government fiscal year calendar, so data sets presented by fiscal year cover Oct. 1 of one year to Sept. 30 of the next year. Petitions USCIS receives on a given date are generally adjudicated on a later date. Therefore, data in the H-2A Employer Data Hub reflect the date we adjudicated the petition rather than the date received. |
| Employer (Petitioner) Name | Petitioner’s firm/employer name from I-129, Page 1, Part 1, Question 2 of the current form. This information is limited to H-2A petitioners and will not include any additional joint employers. |
| Tax ID | The last four digits of the Petitioner’s Tax ID Number from the Form I-129, Page 1, Part 1, Question 5. |
| State | Petitioner’s state from the Form I-129, Page 1, Part 1, Question 3. This is the state indicated in the mailing address of the employer and is not necessarily the beneficiary’s work location. |
| City | Petitioner’s city from the Form I-129, Page 1, Part 1, Question 3. This is the city indicated in the mailing address of the employer and is not necessarily the beneficiary’s work location. |
| ZIP | Petitioner’s five-digit ZIP code from the Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, Page 1, Part 1, Question 3. This is the ZIP code indicated in the mailing address of the employer and is not necessarily the beneficiary’s work location. |
| Worksite State | State information for worksite location. Data from the DOL Temporary Labor Certification public disclosure file. ETA-790A, Section C, Item 3 (WORKSITE_STATE). |
| SOC code | Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) System: data from the DOL Temporary Labor Certification public disclosure file. Two-digit occupational code associated with the job being requested for temporary labor certification, as classified by the SOC System. For more information on the SOC system, visit the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Standard Occupational Classification webpage. Form ETA-9142A Section E, Item 1 (SOC_CODE). Blanks or missing data are coded and presented in the data hub as “unknown”. |
| NAICS code | North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code: data from the DOL Temporary Labor Certification public disclosure file. Two-digit industry code associated with the employer requesting temporary labor certification, as classified by the NAICS. Form ETA-9142A Section B, Item 13 (NAICS_CODE). For more information on the NAICS, visit the U.S. Census Bureau’s NAICS code webpage. Blanks or missing data are coded and presented in the data hub as “unknown.” |
| Hourly Wage Level | Hourly wages paid to workers subject to the temporary labor certification. Form ETA-790A Section A, Items 8. (WAGE_OFFER and PER). Wage levels are based on aggregated $2 hourly wage increments. |
| Consular Processed | Beneficiaries outside of the United States may receive their H-2A visa at a U.S. Department of State consulate abroad. This pathway is referred to as consular processing. “Yes” indicates the H-2A visa was consular processed and “No” indicates the H-2A visa beneficiary was processed by USCIS in the United States. |
| New Employment Approval | Initially approved H-2A petitions with “New employment” selected on Part 2, Question 2 of the Form I-129. The beneficiary: 1. Is outside the United States and holds no classification; 2. Will begin employment in the United States for a new employer in a different nonimmigrant classification than the beneficiary currently holds; or 3. Will work for the same employer but in a different nonimmigrant classification. Number represents counts of workers approved. |
| New Employment Denial | Initially denied H-2A petitions with “New employment” selected on Part 2, Question 2 of the Form I-129. Number represents counts of workers denied. |
| Continuation Approval | Approved H-2A petitions with “Continuation of previously approved employment without change with the same employer” selected on Part 2, Question 2 of the Form I-129. The beneficiary will continue to work in the same nonimmigrant classification currently held with no change to the employment. Number represents counts of workers approved. |
| Continuation Denial | Denied H-2A petitions with “Continuation of previously approved employment without change with the same employer” selected on Part 2, Question 2 of the Form I-129.The beneficiary will be denied continuing employment in the same nonimmigrant classification currently held with no change to the employment. Number represents counts of workers denied. |
| Change with Same Employer Approval | Approved H-2A petitions with “Change in previously approved employment” selected on Part 2, Question 2 of the Form I-129. This selection is used to notify USCIS of a non-material change to the previously approved employment, such as a change in job title without a material change in job duties. Number represents counts of workers approved. |
| Change with Same Employer Denial | Denied H-2A petitions with “Change in previously approved employment” selected on Part 2, Question 2 of the Form I-129 are those who applied and were denied a non-material change to the previously approved employment, such as a change in job title without a material change in job duties. Number represents counts of workers denied. |
| New Concurrent Approval | Approved H-2A petitions with “New concurrent employment” selected on Part 2, Question 2 of the Form I-129. The beneficiary will begin new employment with an additional employer in the same nonimmigrant classification the beneficiary currently holds while continuing to work for his or her current employer in the same classification. Number represents counts of workers approved. |
| New Concurrent Denial | Denied H-2A petitions with “New concurrent employment” selected on Part 2, Question 2 of the Form I-129 are those denied a petition to begin new employment with an additional employer in the same nonimmigrant classification the beneficiary currently holds. The beneficiary would have continued working for his or her current employer in the same classification. Number represents counts of workers denied. |
| Change of Employer Approval | Approved H-2A petitions with “Change of employer” selected on Part 2, Question 2 of the Form I-129. The beneficiary will begin employment working for a new employer in the same nonimmigrant classification that the beneficiary currently holds. Number represents counts of workers approved. |
| Change of Employer Denial | Denied H-2A petitions with “Change of employer” selected on Part 2, Question 2 of the Form I-129 are those who applied and were denied beginning employment working for a new employer in the same nonimmigrant classification that the beneficiary currently holds. Number represents counts of workers denied. |
| Amended Approval | Approved H-2A petitions with “Amended petition” selected on Part 2, Question 2 of the Form I-129. Number represents counts of workers approved. |
| Amended Denial | Denied H-2A petitions with “Amended petition” are denied petitions that were filed by petitioners that selected Part 2, Question 2 of the Form I-129. Number represents counts of workers denied. |
For additional reporting on the H-2A visa program, see USCIS Reports and Studies and USCIS Immigration and Citizenship Data.