Rights and Protections for Temporary Workers

If you are coming to the United States to work or study, we are confident that you will have a pleasant and rewarding stay. If you encounter any problems, however, know that you have rights and can get help. All temporary workers and employers must follow U.S. laws and we encourage you to report any violations or abuses and seek assistance.

Please call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or visit humantraffickinghotline.org if you feel unsafe or are being mistreated.

This is a safe and confidential hotline run by a non-governmental organization that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Trained specialists are available to help in more than 200 languages. You do not need to give your name or identify yourself. If you are ever in immediate danger, call 911.

The pamphlet linked below includes the number for the hotline and informs you of your rights as a nonimmigrant visa holder in certain employment- and education-based categories. The pamphlet also includes helpful tips for your stay in the United States, like how to keep a written record of all the time you work and keeping your travel documents in a safe place where you can always access them. The U.S. government created this pamphlet at the prompting of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (Public Law 110-457), which reaffirms and strengthens the U.S. government’s commitment to fight human trafficking and labor abuses.

Before your visa interview at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad, it is important that you take the time to read this pamphlet carefully. You will be asked at your visa interview to confirm that you have done so. By reviewing this information, you will learn about your rights and protections in the United States, as well as resources available to you if help is needed.

The Department has also prepared an informational video in response to section 1206 of the Violence against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (Pub. L. 113-4). Please watch this short video, which is available in 20 languages below before you begin traveling to the United States. The video complements the pamphlet and explains what rights you have when working in the United States and how you can safely reach out for help if you feel your rights are violated.

Language

Online Reading Version

Double - Sided Printer Version

Video

Afrikaans (PDF - 4.3 MB)    
Albanian (PDF - 363 KB) (PDF - 2,792 KB)  
Amharic (PDF - 429 KB) (PDF - 14.1 MB)  
Arabic (PDF - 445 KB) (PDF - 4,977 KB)  -  Arabic 2 (PDF - 1.8 MB) Video
Armenian (PDF - 6.2 MB)    
Azerbaijani (PDF - 459 KB) (PDF - 6,220 KB) Video
Bengali (PDF - 2,656 KB) (PDF - 421 KB)  
Bosnian (PDF - 2,666KB) (PDF - 379 KB)  
Brazilian Portuguese (PDF - 2.9 MB) (PDF - 425 KB)  
Bulgarian (PDF - 2,954 KB) (PDF - 408 KB) Video
Castilian     Video
Simplified Chinese (PDF - 3.5 MB) (PDF - 4,977 KB)  
Traditional Chinese (PDF - 531KB) (PDF - 510KB) Video
Croatian (PDF - 415 KB) (PDF - 396 KB) Video
Czech (PDF - 414 KB) (PDF - 393 KB)  
Dari (PDF - 424 KB) (PDF - 5,126 KB) Video
English (PDF - 2.6 MB) (PDF - 4.6 MB) Video
Farsi (PDF - 389 KB) (PDF - 4,952 KB)  
Filipino Tagalog (PDF - 2,817 KB) (PDF - 304 KB) Video
French (PDF - 2,836 KB) (PDF - 309 KB) Video
German (PDF - 4,313 KB) (PDF - 4,209 KB)  
Greek (PDF - 4,313 KB) (PDF - 4,209 KB)  
Haitian Creole (PDF - 2.40 MB) (PDF - 4.6 MB)  
Hebrew (PDF - 354 KB) (PDF - 5,691 KB)  
Hindi (PDF - 3,000 KB) (PDF - 5,691 KB) Video
Hungarian (PDF - 2,961 KB) (PDF - 402 KB) Video
Indonesian (PDF - 2,570 KB) (PDF - 334 KB)  
Italian (PDF - 400 KB) (PDF - 390 KB) Video
Japanese (PDF - 564 KB) (PDF - 3557 KB) Video
Kannada (PDF - 437 MB)    
Korean (PDF - 3 MB) (PDF - 1.4 MB) Video
Kurdish (PDF - 1.2 MB)    
Lithuanian (PDF - 418 KB) (PDF - 406 KB)  
Malayalam (PDF - 9.7 MB)    
Mongolian (PDF - 7.3 MB) (PDF - 3.13 MB)  
Nepali (PDF - 411 KB) (PDF - 406 KB) Video
Polish (PDF - 425 KB) (PDF - 402 KB) Video
Portuguese (PDF - 342 KB) (PDF - 361 KB) Video
Punjabi (PDF - 1,314 KB) (PDF - 7,554 KB)  
Romanian (PDF - 448 KB) (PDF - 408 KB) Video
Russian (PDF - 428 KB) (PDF - 7,552 KB) Video
Serbian (PDF - 424 KB) (PDF - 404 KB) Video
Slovak (PDF - 429 KB) (PDF - 417 KB)  
Spanish (PDF - 2,6 KB) (PDF - 424 KB) Video
Swahili (PDF - 310 KB) (PDF - 327 KB)  
Tamil (PDF - 417 KB) (PDF - 404 KB)  
Telugu (PDF - 3.6 MB)    
Thai (PDF - 353 KB) (PDF - 5,356 KB) Video
Tibetan (PDF - 468 KB) (PDF - 451 KB)  
Turkish (PDF - 370 KB) (PDF - 351 KB) Video
Turkmen (PDF - 432 KB)    
Ukrainian (PDF - 370 KB) (PDF - 351 KB) Video
Urdu (PDF - 1,537 KB) (PDF - 8,274 KB)  
Vietnamese (PDF - 2,778 KB) (PDF - 381 KB) Video

 

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