II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1578 

To streamline the application process for H–2A employers and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 19, 2017 

Mr. PAUL (for himself and Mr. TESTER) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To streamline the application process for H–2A employers 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Paperwork Reduction 

5 for Farmers Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ELECTRONIC FILING AND APPEALS SYSTEM FOR H– 

7 2A PETITIONS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor 

10 shall establish a process for filing petitions for nonVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Jul 26, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1578.IS S1578

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1 immigrant visas under section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) of the 

2 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

3 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a)) that ensures that— 

4 (1) petitioners may file such petitions through 

5 the Department of Labor’s website; 

6 (2) any software developed to process such peti7 tions indicates to the petitioner any technical defi8 ciency in the application before submission; and 

9 (3) any petitioner may file such petition in a 

10 paper format if such petitioner prefers such format. 

11 (b) REQUEST FOR EVIDENCE.—Section 218(h) of the 

12 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1188(h)) is 

13 amended by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(3) If U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 

15 issues a Request for Evidence to an employer— 

16 ‘‘(A) the employer may request such Request 

17 for Evidence to be delivered in an online format; and 

18 ‘‘(B) if the employer makes the request de19 scribed in subparagraph (A)— 

20 ‘‘(i) the Request for Evidence shall be pro21 vided to the employer in an online format; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) not later than 10 business days after 

23 the employer submits the requested evidence 

24 online, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration ServVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:48 Jul 26, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1578.IS S1578

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1 ices shall provide an online response to the em2 ployer— 

3 ‘‘(I) indicating that the submitted evi4 dence is sufficient; or 

5 ‘‘(II) explaining the reasons that such 

6 evidence is not sufficient and providing the 

7 employer with an opportunity to address 

8 any such deficiency.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. H–2A PROGRAM UPDATES. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) of 

11 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

12 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, labor 

13 as a year-round equine worker, labor as a year-round live14 stock worker (including as a dairy or poultry worker)’’ be15 fore ‘‘, and the pressing of apples’’. 

16 (b) JOINT APPLICATION; DEFICIENCY REMEDY.— 

17 Section 214(c)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

18 (8 U.S.C. 1184(c)(1)) is amended— 

19 (1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(1)’’; and 

20 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(B) Multiple employers may submit a joint petition 

22 under subparagraph (A) to import aliens as non23 immigrants described in section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a). 

24 Upon the approval of such petition, each joint employer 

25 shall be subject to the provisions under section 218 with 


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1 respect to each alien listed in such petition. If any indi2 vidual party to such a joint contract violates any condition 

3 for approval with respect to the application or provisions 

4 under section 218 with respect to each alien listed in such 

5 petition, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, the 

6 contract may be modified to remove the party in violation 

7 from the contract at no penalty to the remaining parties. 

8 ‘‘(C) If a petition to import aliens as nonimmigrants 

9 described in section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) is denied or if 

10 the issuance of visas requested through such petition is 

11 delayed due to a problem with the petition, the Director 

12 of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services shall 

13 promptly notify the petitioner of the reasons for such de14 nial or delay and provide the petitioner with reasonable 

15 time to remedy the problem.’’. 

16 (c) LABOR CERTIFICATION; STAGGERED EMPLOY17 MENT DATES.—Section 218(h) of the Immigration and 

18 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1188(h)), as amended by sec19 tion 3(b), is further amended by adding at the end the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(4) An employer that is seeking to rehire aliens as 

22 H–2A workers who previously worked for the employer as 

23 H–2A workers may submit a simplified petition, to be de24 veloped by the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigra25 tion Services, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor, 


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1 which shall include a certification that the employer main2 tains compliance with all applicable requirements with re3 spect to the employment of such aliens. Such petitions 

4 shall be approved upon completion of applicable security 

5 screenings. 

6 ‘‘(5) An employer that is seeking to hire aliens as 

7 H–2A workers during different time periods in a given fis8 cal year may submit a single petition to U.S. Citizenship 

9 and Immigration Services that details the time period dur10 ing which each such alien is expected to be employed. 

11 ‘‘(6) Upon receiving notification from an employer 

12 that the employer’s H–2A worker has prematurely aban13 doned employment or has failed to appear for employment 

14 and such employer wishes to replace such worker— 

15 ‘‘(A) the Secretary of State shall promptly issue 

16 a visa under section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) to an eligi17 ble alien designated by the employer to replace that 

18 worker; and 

19 ‘‘(B) the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

20 promptly admit such alien into the United States 

21 upon completion of applicable security screenings.’’. 

Æ 


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