Fiji and Kiribati back on US seasonal worker scheme

[Stacey King]

FijiVillage.com - Publish date/time: 18/01/2011 [07:19]

Fiji citizens can now apply for seasonal work in the United States after Fiji was included in a newly revised list of eligible nations by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

AFP news agency reports that in total, 53 countries are eligible this year for the temporary guest worker visas, called H 2A and H 2B.

Most of the other newcomer countries on the list were in Oceania which includes Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

The Caribbean island nation of Barbados was also newly listed.

Fiji citizens are now eligible to participate in the programs that allow US employers to bring in foreign nationals to fill jobs in the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors.

Meanwhile, five former communist European countries have also been added for the first time to the list.

Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Macedonia and Slovenia were added to a list of countries whose nationals are also now eligible to apply for seasonal work.

The list will be published in a Federal Register notice today and is valid for one year.

Story by: Ronel Lal