<< Return to newsletter home
DHS Proposes Changes to the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Worker Program
February 6, 2008: On February 6, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a series of proposed changes that would enable a more streamlined hiring process for temporary/seasonal workers hired to work in the U.S. under the H-2A visa category. These modifications would accomplish a number of things, including reducing certain limitations and delays U.S employers face and enabling employers more flexibility in petitioning for multiple, unnamed agricultural workers.
The proposed changes would also extend the amount of time a temporary agricultural worker could stay in the U.S. after the end of their employment period from 10 to 30 days. The changes would reduce the time a temporary agricultural worker is required to wait outside of the U.S. before again being eligible to return under H-2A status from six to three months. Finally, the proposed changes would enable H-2A workers to shift from one H-2A employer to a new, petitioning employer prior to approval of that change by USCIS, as long as that employer is a participant in USCIS’ E-Verify program.
“These proposed changes are designed to provide an efficient and secure program for farmers to legally fulfill their need for agricultural workers within the law rather than outside the law,” said Michael Chertoff, Secretary of DHS. “This common-sense simplification of H-2A will provide farm employers with a more orderly and timely flow of legal workers, while continuing to protect the rights of laborers and promoting legal and secure methods for determining who is coming into the country.”
The proposed rule to amend the H-2A program also includes certain provisions to tighten up the security and integrity of the visa program. Changes to current regulations regarding security/integrity issues include: requiring employers to attest to the scope of the proposed H-2A employment and their use of recruiters to find H-2A workers; limiting the employers’ and recruiters’ ability to charge fees to prospective H-2A workers; getting rid of employers’ ability to file H-2A petitions without first having an approved temporary labor certification; and restricting the approval of an H-2A petition from individuals from countries that consistently refuse or unreasonably delay the repatriation of their nationals.
<< Return to newsletter home
President Bush Submits FY 2009 Funding Request for USCIS
February 6, 2008: President Bush has requested a budget of $2.7 billion for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for Fiscal Year 2009. The majority of USCIS’ budget will be funded through fees – the largest fee source is the Immigration Examinations Fee Account, which includes fees collected from immigration applications and petitions.
A large portion of funding for USCIS will be used to improve service delivery and modernize the agency’s business infrastructure, USCIS stated. In addition, the budget includes funds to support a fairly large proposed growth in the amount of individuals employed by the agency. USCIS hopes to hire more than 1,000 new temporary and permanent application adjudicators this year.
One hundred million dollars of the budget will be earmarked for USCIS’ E-Verify program, the agency’s online employment authorization status verification system. In addition, $50 million in new funding will be used to “develop an electronic information sharing and verification ‘hub’ capability,” said USCIS in a public statement. This ‘hub’ will help states comply with the REAL ID act, which will demand states have the capacity to quickly verify document information with Federal and other states’ databases.
<< Return to newsletter home
February 5, 2008: USCIS announced last week that it is introducing a new initiative to streamline H-1B petition adjudications. On February 1, 2008, USCIS introduced a special group at their California Service Center dedicated solely to processing H-1B cap exempt petitions. These petitions include those filed by institutions of higher education, nonprofit associations that are affiliated with institutions of higher education and nonprofit or governmental research organizations.
Note that the cap-exempt petitions that will be adjudicated by this special group do not include H-1B petitions filed on behalf of individuals seeking exemption based on their level of education (having a U.S. master’s degree or higher), those requesting an extension of stay, those wishing to change employers or those requesting an amendment to their petitions. These petitions should continue to be sent to originally stated addresses. However, petitioners requesting exemption based on the three criteria stated above (institutions of higher education, nonprofit associations affiliated with institutions of higher education and nonprofit or governmental research organizations) should, according to USCIS, start using a new mailing address when submitting their H-1B cap exempt petitions:
Direct Mail:
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
California Service Center
ATTN: CAP EXEMPT H-1B Processing Unit
P.O. BOX 30040
Laguna Niguel, CA 92607-3004
Private Couriers:
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
California Service Center
ATTN: CAP EXEMPT H-1B Processing Unit
24000 Avila Road, Room 2312
Laguna Niguel, CA 92677
Note that if a cap-exempt petition is received at a different service center, that petition will be forwarded to the California Service Center for processing and adjudication. This procedure will remain in place until USCIS posts specific filing instructions requiring the submission of these petitions to the California Service Center.
<< Return to newsletter home
February 1, 2008: According to recent statements by Emilio Gonzalez, Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the average processing time for naturalization applications has dramatically increased. Currently, the wait time for these applications is roughly 18 months; an increase from the previous time period of just 7 months. In addition, Gonzalez commented that the average family-based adjustment of status application currently takes 12 months to process. These delays are due to a massive increase in requests for naturalization that were received by USCIS this summer; from June to August 2007, more than 3 million naturalization applications were received.
USCIS does plan to increase its staff and to automate procedures wherever possible; however, the backlog is immense and USCIS is hesitant to comment on when they can return to a standard 6-month average time period for processing naturalization applications.
<< Return to newsletter home
MRV Application Fee to Increase to $131
January 30, 2008: Beginning February 1, 2008, all applicants for nonimmigrant visas to the U.S. will be required to pay a Machine-Readable Visa (MRV) application fee of $131. This fee increase was effective January 1, 2008; however, fees of $100 were accepted for thirty days (up to January 31, 2008) for those individuals that had made their application payment prior to January 1, 2008. All individuals who had made or will make their visa application payment after January 1, 2008 will need to make the full $131 payment or, if they had already made a $100 payment, pay the difference ($31) prior to being interviewed.
<< Return to newsletter home
