Title: Paperwork Reduction for Farmers Act
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
Paperwork Reduction for Farmers Act
This bill directs the Department of Labor to establish a process for filing petitions for nonimmigrant temporary agricultural workers (H-2A visa) that ensures that: (1) petitions may be filed through Labor's website or in a paper format, and (2) any technical deficiency in the petition will be indicated to the petitioner before submission.
An employer that has received a request for evidence from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) may request that such evidence request be delivered in an online format. CIS, within 10 days of the employer's submission of evidence, shall: (1) provide an online response indicating whether the evidence is sufficient; and (2) if the evidence is insufficient, provide the employer with an opportunity to address the deficiencies.
The Immigration and Nationality Act is amended to include year-round equine or livestock workers (including dairy or poultry workers) within the H-2A visa category. The requirement that apple pressing be performed on a farm in order to qualify for H-2A status is eliminated.
The bill permits multiple employers to submit a joint petition to import nonimmigrant H-2A visa temporary agricultural workers. Upon approval of such petition, each joint employer shall be subject to the Act's H-2A provisions with respect to each alien listed in the petition.
An employer seeking to rehire H-2A workers who previously worked for the employer as H-2A workers at any time may submit a simplified petition, to be developed by CIS, which shall include a certification that the employer complies with all applicable employment requirements. Such petitions shall be approved upon completion of applicable security screenings.
An employer seeking to hire H-2A workers during different time periods in a given fiscal year may submit a single petition to CIS detailing each alien's employment period.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3297 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






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 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 
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 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. 3. H-2A PROGRAM UPDATES.

    (a) In General.--Section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a)) is amended by 
inserting ``, labor as a year-round equine worker, labor as a year-
round livestock worker (including as a dairy or poultry worker)'' 
before ``, and the pressing of apples''.
    (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.''.
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