Adding to the plethora of H-2A changes the past several weeks, the State Department announced on September 18 that returning H-2A visa applicants will be eligible for an in-person consular interview waiver beginning October 1, 2025 if “renewing an H-2A visa within 12 months of the prior visa’s expiration when the prior visa was issued for full validity at the time of issuance and the applicant was at least 18 years old.”
Original guidance from the State department in July indicated that all H-2A applicants, including returning applicants would be required to complete an in-person interview beginning September 2, 2025. This update to include H-2A as eligible for interview waivers is welcome news to many producers and industry groups that feared a mandatory interview requirement for returning H-2A applicants would further delay worker arrival times.
By Lucas Smith, Cornell University. Permission granted to repost, quote, and reprint with author attribution.
The post H-2A Visas Again Eligible for Consular Interview Waivers Starting October 1 appeared in The Ag Workforce Journal.
