Paperwork Reduction for Farmers and H–2A Modernization Act
Bill: H.R.206 | Sponsor: Rep. Kelly, Trent (R-MS)
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
Paperwork Reduction for Farmers and H-2A Modernization Act
This bill expands the H-2A (temporary agricultural worker) visa program to cover additional types of labor, makes various changes to the program, and provides a safe harbor for errors in nonimmigrant worker visa applications in certain instances.
The bill makes H-2A visas available to an alien providing temporary labor that falls within the federal government classification categories for (1) grounds maintenance workers; (2) farming, fishing, and forestry occupations; or (3) forest, conservation, and logging workers.
The bill authorizes joint employers to file a joint petition for an H-2A alien.
The bill allows (1) employers seeking to rehire an H-2A worker to submit a simplified petition, and (2) employers seeking to hire H-2A workers for different time periods during a fiscal year to submit a single petition for such workers.
The Department of Labor shall establish an electronic filing and appeals system for H-2A petitions. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) shall communicate electronically with an H-2A employer when USCIS requests evidence from the employer, if the employer asks to do so.
An employer who uses a third-party service to apply for a nonimmigrant worker visa shall not be civilly or criminally liable for errors in the application if the employer reasonably believed that the application was accurate and complied with statutory requirements.

To streamline the application process for H-2A employers, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Paperwork Reduction for Farmers and 
H-2A Modernization Act''.

SEC. 2. H-2A PROGRAM UPDATES.

    (a) In General.--Section 101(a)(15)(H) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``an alien (i)(b) subject to'' and 
        inserting the following: ``an alien--
                    ``(i)(b) subject to'';
            (2) by striking ``or (ii)(a)'' and all that follows through 
        ``seasonal nature,'' and inserting the following:
                    ``(ii)(a) who has a residence in a foreign country 
                that the alien has no intention of abandoning and is 
                coming temporarily to the United States to perform 
                agricultural labor or services (as defined by the 
                Secretary of Labor, by regulation), of a temporary or 
                seasonal nature, including agricultural labor (as 
                defined in section 3121(g) of the Internal Revenue Act 
                of 1986), agriculture (as defined in section 3(f) of 
                the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 
                203(f))), the pressing of apples for cider on a farm, 
                fish cutting and trimming, including labor or services 
                relating to landscaping and groundskeeping, forestry- 
                and conservation-related services, services relating 
                primarily to the cultivation, installation, and 
                establishment of horticultural commodities (without 
                regard to commodity source or location), labor as a 
                year-round equine worker, labor as a year-round 
                livestock worker (including as a dairy, cattle, or 
                poultry worker), labor in aquaculture, and the 
                processing of wild seafood, and all other labor that 
                falls within Standard Occupational Classification Code 
                37-3000 (Grounds Maintenance Workers), 45-0000 
                (Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations), or 45-
                4000 (Forest, Conservation, and Logging Workers);''; 
                and
            (3) by striking ``(iii) having a residence in a foreign 
        country which he has no intention of abandoning who'' and 
        inserting the following:
                    ``(iii) who has a residence in a foreign country 
                that the alien has no intention of abandoning and''.
    (b) Joint Application; Deficiency Remedy.--Section 214(c)(1) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(c)(1)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(A)'' after ``(1)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(B) Multiple employers may submit a joint petition under 
subparagraph (A) to import aliens as nonimmigrants described in section 
101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a). Upon the approval of such petition, each joint 
employer shall be subject to the provisions under section 218 with 
respect to each alien listed in such petition. If any individual 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 denial or 
delay and provide the petitioner with reasonable time to remedy the 
problem.''.
    (c) Labor Certification; Staggered Employment Dates.--Section 
218(h) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1188(h)), as 
amended by section 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 developed by the Director of U.S. 
Citizenship and Immigration Services, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Labor, which shall include a certification that the 
employer maintains compliance with all applicable requirements with 
respect 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 fiscal year may submit a 
single petition to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that 
details the time period during 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 abandoned 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 eligible 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.''.

SEC. 3. 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 nonimmigrant visas under section 
101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a)) that ensures that--
            (1) petitioners may file such petitions through the 
        Department of Labor's website;
            (2) any software developed to process such petitions 
        indicates to the petitioner any technical deficiency in the 
        application before submission; and
            (3) any petitioner may file such petition in a paper format 
        if such petitioner prefers such format.
    (b) Request for Evidence.--Section 218(h) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1188(h)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(3) If U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issues a Request 
for Evidence to an employer--
            ``(A) the employer may request such Request for Evidence to 
        be delivered in an online format; and
            ``(B) if the employer makes the request described in 
        subparagraph (A)--
                    ``(i) the Request for Evidence shall be provided to 
                the employer in an online format; and
                    ``(ii) not later than 10 business days after the 
                employer submits the requested evidence online, U.S. 
                Citizenship and Immigration Services shall provide an 
                online response to the employer--
                            ``(I) indicating that the submitted 
                        evidence is sufficient; or
                            ``(II) explaining the reasons that such 
                        evidence is not sufficient and providing the 
                        employer with an opportunity to address any 
                        such deficiency.''.

SEC. 4. SAFE HARBOR FROM PENALTIES FOR DOCUMENT FRAUD.

    Section 274C of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1324c) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (g) and 
        moving such subsection so that it appears immediately following 
        subsection (f); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
    ``(c) Safe Harbor.--Any employer who uses a third-party preparer to 
file an application for nonimmigrant visas for workers the employer 
intends to hire shall not be subject to civil or criminal penalties 
under this section for errors or omissions on such application if the 
employer reasonably believed that the application was accurate and in 
compliance with all applicable statutory requirements.''.
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