In 2007, 68,000 U.S. visas were provided to agricultural workers in Monterrey. Photo EFE


The U.S. consulate in this northern Mexican metropolis said that this month it will authorize 9,000 work visas for Mexicans, 50 percent more than during the same month last year.

The U.S. mission in Monterrey, which is among the worldwide leaders in issuance of H2 visas, said that it expects the visas will be awarded at the same increased level throughout the year.

Of the visas that authorize foreigners to enter the United States temporarily, the H2-A visa is provided to agricultural workers and the H2-B to professionals from other economic sectors for stays of between three and nine months.

“In January, we have plans to handle approximately 9,000 visa requests, while during the same month in 2007, they processed about 6,000,” consular spokesperson Lizette Gonzalez told Efe on Monday.

Last year, 68,000 U.S. visas were provided to agricultural workers in Monterrey. Mexicans constitute a majority of the estimated 12 million undocumented migrants living in the United States.

Gonzalez said that the majority of Mexican workers who receive the visas will go to work in Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, Arkansas, Florida and North Carolina. Some 100,000 of the visas could be awarded this year, if the trend holds up.

“In the United States, a welder is valued, and not in Mexico,” said Reyes Llinas Aguilar, 35, a welder who will soon receive his visa at the consulate so that he can travel to Louisiana to work.

In Mexico, the pay for welders averages 4,000 pesos ($368) per month, far lower than the pay for the same skill in the United States. EFE