[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3439 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3439

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 28, 2016

   Mr. Paul introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               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. H-2A WORKERS.

    (a) Joint Application; Period of Authorized Admission.--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)'';
            (2) by striking ``Attorney General'' each place such term 
        appears and inserting ``Director of U.S. Citizenship and 
        Immigration Services'';
            (3) by striking ``For purposes'' and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(B) For purposes''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(C) 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.
    ``(D) The period of authorized admission for a nonimmigrant 
described in section 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) may not exceed the shorter 
of--
            ``(i) the period for which a petitioner under this 
        paragraph has contracted to employ such nonimmigrant; or
            ``(ii) three years.
    ``(E) 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 shall promptly notify the petitioner of the 
reasons for such denial or delay and provide the petitioner with 
reasonable time to remedy the problem.''.
    (b) Labor Certification; Staggered Employment Dates.--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) An employer that is seeking to rehire aliens as H-2A workers 
who previously worked for the employer as H-2A workers at any time 
during the most recent 12-month period 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.
    ``(4) 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.''.

SEC. 3. OPTION FOR ELECTRONIC REQUESTS FOR EVIDENCE.

    Section 218(h) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended 
by section 2, is further amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(5) If U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issues a Request 
for Evidence to an employer--
            ``(A) the employer may request that U.S. Citizenship and 
        Immigration Services deliver such Request for Evidence in an 
        online format; and
            ``(B) if the employer makes such a request--
                    ``(i) the Request for Evidence shall be provided in 
                an online format; and
                    ``(ii) not later than three business days after the 
                employer submits the requested evidence online, U.S. 
                Citizenship and Immigration Services shall provide to 
                the employer--
                            ``(I) an online response that indicates the 
                        submitted evidence is sufficient; or
                            ``(II) an online response that explains the 
                        reasons such evidence is not sufficient and an 
                        opportunity for the employer to address any 
                        such deficiency.''.
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