Delegation of the Adjudication of Certain H-2A Petitions to the Department of Labor

Résumé

This rule proposes to amend the Immigration and Naturalization Service's (Service) regulations by delegating to the United States Department of Labor (DOL) the adjudication of certain petitions for aliens coming temporarily to the United States to perform agricultural labor or services (H-2A petition). The H-2A petitions affected by this action would involve only petitions filed for initial H-2A employment where the alien is not physically present in the United States and petitions to replace H-2A workers who were terminated before the end of their authorized stays with workers from outside the United States. This rule would not affect the Service's authority to make determinations at the port-of-entry of an alien's admissibility to the United States or to adjudicate other petitions. The Service has proposed these changes in order to streamline the existing H-2A petitioning process for certain foreign agricultural workers, and the proposals are intended to make it easier and less burdensome for United States employers to file petitions for such workers.