Guest worker

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Immigration in the U.S.
DACA and DAPA
Admission of refugees
Birthright citizenship

Guest workers are individuals from other countries who come to the United States for temporary work. Guest workers may receive one of several types of visa, each intended for a different type of work. In 2015, the United States issued over 807,000 temporary worker visas.

Visa classifications

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issues visas to temporary workers in 10 broad classifications, though some of these contain sub-classifications. Each classification is denoted with a letter:

• C - transit or transitional worker
• E - trader or investor from a country engaged in a treaty with the United States
• H - temporary worker or trainee
• I - representative of foreign media
• L - employee transferring within a company that has locations in the United States and abroad
• O - person "with extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics"
• P - internationally recognized artist, athlete, or entertainer
• Q - international cultural exchange participant
• R - religious worker

A special classification also exists for Canadian and Mexican professionals accepted into the United States through the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Click [show] on the teal bar below to view a table detailing each visa sub-classification and descriptions.

Visa classifications for temporary workers
Classification	Description
CW-1	Transitional worker from Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands
E-1	Treaty traders and qualified employees
E-2	Treaty investors and qualified employees
E-2C	Long-term foreign investors in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands
E-3	Specialty occupation professionals from Australia
H-1B	Skilled workers in a specialty occupation
H-1B1	Skilled workers from Chile and Singapore
H-1B2	Skilled workers in occupations related to Department of Defense Cooperative Research and Development or Co-production projects
H-1B3	Fashion models
H-1C	Registered nurses working in a designated health professional shortage area
H-2A	Temporary agricultural workers
H-2B	Temporary non-agricultural workers
H-3	Trainees in occupations in fields other than medicine and academia
I	Representatives of foreign media
L-1A	Managers or executives transferring within a company that has locations in the United States and abroad
L-1B	Skilled workers transferring within a company that has locations in the United States and abroad
O-1	Individuals "with extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics"
O-2	Assistant of individual admitted under O-1 visa
P-1A	Internationally recognized athletes
P-1B	Internationally recognized entertainers
P-2	Performers who are members of a reciprocal exchange program
P-3	Artists and entertainers who perform, coach, or teach under a program that is culturally
Q-1	Participants in an international cultural exchange program that provides practical training or employment
R-1	Religious workers
TN	Canadian and Mexican professionals accepted into the United States through NAFTA
Source: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, "Temporary (Nonimmigrant) Workers"

Number of visas issued

The table below provides data on the number of temporary worker visas issued in the various classifications for each year between 2011 and 2015. In 2015, the United States issued over 807,000 temporary worker visas, compared to nearly 542,000 in 2011.

Number of temporary worker visas issued annually, 2011-2015
Classification	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
CW	0	542	2,555	2,669	3,737
E	39,997	45,110	50,141	53,054	59,221
H	312,082	334,290	385,051	431,001	477,780
I	14,177	14,447	14,298	13,674	14,447
L	147,677	134,212	140,804	149,621	164,604
NAFTA (TN)	8,519	13,216	16,157	18,578	21,608
O	15,743	18,343	22,080	22,430	23,680
P	33,201	34,153	32,248	32,725	33,978
Q	1,492	1,632	1,688	2,036	1,901
R	4,929	5,715	6,148	6,123	6,256
Total	541,817	601,660	671,170	731,911	807,212
Source: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs, "Classes of Nonimmigrants Issued Visas"

Support and opposition

Farmworker Justice, a nonprofit organization that describes itself as working to promote "higher wages, better working conditions, and comprehensive immigration reform" for farmworkers, argues that guest worker programs "drive down wages and working conditions of U.S. workers" and provide U.S. workers with few job protections against competition from foreign-born workers. In addition, the organization contends that the H-2A program incentivizes employers to hire guest workers over American workers and that American workers "who apply for H-2A jobs are rejected or forced to quit."

Meanwhile, Alex Nowrasteh at the Cato Institute argues that the idea that guest worker programs harm American workers and the economy is an economic fallacy. Conversely, Nowrasteh argues that guest worker programs may help American workers and the economy by acting as a source of demand for goods and services produced and sold by native-born workers. Additionally, Nowrasteh contends that guest worker programs do not push down the wages of American workers because guest workers complement rather than compete with the skills of American workers.

See also

• 

  Immigration in the U.S.

• 

  Immigration policy under the Trump administration

• 

  115th Congress on immigration

Footnotes

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