Two southwest Montana counties together accounted for more than 4 out of 10 temporary foreign-worker positions certified for Montana employers in federal fiscal year 2025, according to a Montana Free Press analysis of the most recent full year of data from the U.S. Department of Labor.  Labor c ertification is the first of several federal approvals that can lead to foreign workers receiving H-2 visas. Employers first ask the Labor Department to certify a specified number of positions. The department must determine that not enough qualified U.S. workers are available, and that employing foreign workers will not adversely impact the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers.The H-2A program covers temporary or seasonal agricultural labor, including jobs on farms and ranches. The H-2B program covers temporary nonagricultural work when an employer has a seasonal, peak-load, intermittent or one-time need. Both programs are operated jointly by multiple federal agencies.  The Labor Department counts positions sought by employers and certified by the agency, not visas issued or foreign workers who ultimately came to work in Montana. Public U.S. State Department statistics report issued visas by category, nationality and issuing office, but do not identify the U.S. state or county where a certified visa recipient was expected to work. After receiving labor certification, an employer generally must file a petition with USCIS. Prospective workers residing outside the country may then need to obtain visas from the State Department and seek admission to the United States.  The Labor Department certified 4,470 H-2A and H-2B positions tied to employers in Montana during the fiscal year, which ran from Oct. 1, 2024, to Sept. 30, 2025.That number was down more than 3.3% from the prior fiscal year’s 4,624 positions, with much of the decrease driven by a 13.5% decline in nonagricultural H2-B certifications.Fiscal year 2025 overlapped roughly with the first eight months of President Donald Trump’s second term, so the annual comparison does not isolate any effects attributable to the Trump administration. Many of these applications were likely started by employers well before President Trump was reelected in November 2025.  Statewide, the U.S. Labor Department certified 2,117 H-2A and 2,353 H-2B positions for Montana employers in fiscal year 2025. In fiscal year 2024, it certified 1,904 H-2A and 2720 H-2B positions.The H-2A program is not subject to an annual numerical limit, while Congress generally caps H-2B visas at 33,000 per each 6-month period of a fiscal year. Supplemental H-2B visas have been authorized in recent years, including nearly 65,000 early in fiscal year 2025 before Trump took office.  The limits apply later in the process, when visas are requested, and do not apply to the certification stage. The certification figures are best understood as a measure of employer demand for temporary foreign workers, not as a count of issued visas.Madison County had the largest fiscal 2025 total, with 1,005 certified positions, followed by Gallatin County with 844. Together, the two counties accounted for more than 1,800 positions, or 41% of the statewide total.Yellowstone County ranked third with 303 positions. Beaverhead County had 190, and Missoula County had 143. The five leading counties combined accounted for 2,485 positions, more than 55% of the statewide total.The mix of H-2A and H-2B approvals differed significantly among the top five counties. H-2B accounted for about 90% of Madison and Gallatin counties’ positions. Beaverhead County’s certifications were nearly entirely for agricultural positions, with 184 H-2A positions among its total of 190. The concentration was especially pronounced in the nonagricultural program. Madison and Gallatin counties together accounted for 71% of all H-2B positions certified for Montana employers. The post Where is Montana’s highest demand for temporary foreign workers?  appeared first on Montana Free Press. ...read more read less