I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3297 
To streamline the application process for H–2A employers and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 19, 2017 
Mr. KELLY of Mississippi introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To streamline the application process for H–2A employers 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Paperwork Reduction 
for Farmers Act’’. 
SEC. 2. ELECTRONIC FILING AND APPEALS SYSTEM FOR H– 
2A PETITIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor 
shall establish a process for filing petitions for non-
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respect to each alien listed in such petition. If any indi-
vidual party to such a joint contract violates any condition 
for approval with respect to the application or provisions 
under section 218 with respect to each alien listed in such 
petition, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, the 
contract may be modified to remove the party in violation 
from the contract at no penalty to the remaining parties. 
‘‘(C) If a petition to import aliens as nonimmigrants 
described in section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) is denied or if 
the issuance of visas requested through such petition is 
delayed due to a problem with the petition, the Director 
of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services shall 
promptly notify the petitioner of the reasons for such de-
nial or delay and provide the petitioner with reasonable 
time to remedy the problem.’’. 
(c) LABOR CERTIFICATION; STAGGERED EMPLOY-
MENT DATES.—Section 218(h) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1188(h)), as amended by sec-
tion 3(b), is further amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(4) An employer that is seeking to rehire aliens as 
H–2A workers who previously worked for the employer as 
H–2A workers may submit a simplified petition, to be de-
veloped by the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigra-
tion Services, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor, 
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which shall include a certification that the employer main-
tains compliance with all applicable requirements with re-
spect to the employment of such aliens. Such petitions 
shall be approved upon completion of applicable security 
screenings. 
‘‘(5) An employer that is seeking to hire aliens as 
H–2A workers during different time periods in a given fis-
cal year may submit a single petition to U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration Services that details the time period dur-
ing which each such alien is expected to be employed. 
‘‘(6) Upon receiving notification from an employer 
that the employer’s H–2A worker has prematurely aban-
doned employment or has failed to appear for employment 
and such employer wishes to replace such worker— 
‘‘(A) the Secretary of State shall promptly issue 
a visa under section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) to an eligi-
ble alien designated by the employer to replace that 
worker; and 
‘‘(B) the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 
promptly admit such alien into the United States 
upon completion of applicable security screenings.’’. 
Æ 
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