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S 1887 116th Congress Senate Immigration Administrative remedies Aquaculture Department of Labor Foreign labor Forests, forestry, trees Fruit and vegetables Horticulture and plants Immigration status and procedures Livestock Migrant, seasonal, agricultural labor Seafood Visas and passports

Paperwork Reduction for Farmers and H–2A Modernization Act

Introduced: June 18, 2019 Introduced by: Paul, Rand Republican · Kentucky See on congress.gov
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 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Jun 18, 2019
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Jun 18, 2019
Introduced in Senate
 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

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.

What's happening now June 18, 2019

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1