118th Congress Immigration
H.R. 4708: H–2 Improvements to Relieve Employers Act
Introduced
- Introduced (completed)
- Passed House (not reached)
- Passed Senate (not reached)
- To the President (not reached)
- Became law (not reached)
Summary
This bill addresses issues relating to temporary work visas, including by extending the period of stay for H-2A (temporary agricultural workers) and H-2B (temporary nonagricultural workers) visas.
Under this bill, the period of stay for an H-2A or H-2B visa shall generally be three years, whereas under current law, these visas are typically valid for up to a year with extensions available for one-year periods for up to three consecutive years. Specifically, this bill establishes that labor certifications and petitions for such visas shall be valid for three years. (Under current regulations, the period of stay for an H-2A or H-2B visa is for the validity period of the underlying petition and supporting labor certification, with some additional time to allow the visa holder to relocate to and from the United States.)
The bill also authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to waive the in-person requirement for an individual seeking to renew an H-2A or H-2B visa within four years of the expiration of the earlier visa.
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The Department of Labor must publish on its website information on the number of seasons during which an employer expects to have seasonal employment available, if the employer requests such information.
Written by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.
Roll calls
No roll call votes have been held on this bill.
Amendments
No amendments were offered to this bill.
Cosponsors
- Stephanie Bice R-OKOriginal
- Don Bacon R-NEOriginal
- Henry Cuellar D-TXOriginal
- Juan Ciscomani R-AZOriginal
- Mónica De La Cruz R-TXOriginal
- John Duarte R-CAOriginal
- Vicente Gonzalez D-TXOriginal
- Michael Lawler R-NYOriginal
- Nicole Malliotakis R-NYOriginal
- James (Jim) Moylan R-GUOriginal
- Chris Pappas D-NHOriginal
- Maria Salazar R-FLOriginal
- Darren Soto D-FLOriginal
- Shri Thanedar D-MIOriginal
- David Valadao R-CAOriginal
- Jefferson Van Drew R-NJOriginal
- Lori Chavez-DeRemer R-OR
- Ann Kuster D-NH
- Kathy Manning D-NC
- David Trone D-MD
- Larry Bucshon R-IN
- Charles (Chuck) Edwards R-NC
- Nathaniel Moran R-TX
- Wiley Nickel D-NC
- James Baird R-IN
- Jenniffer González-Colón R-PR
- Morgan Luttrell R-TX
- Rudy Yakym R-IN
- Chrissy Houlahan D-PA
- Bill Johnson R-OH
- Elissa Slotkin D-MI
- Young Kim R-CA
- Dean Phillips D-MN
- Lloyd Smucker R-PA
- Daniel Meuser R-PA
- Jonathan Jackson D-IL
- Raja Krishnamoorthi D-IL
Who scored on this bill
- 1Ernest Gonzales SponsorDrew cross-party cosponsors, introduced, reached a cosponsor milestone3 events+12
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Introductions and cosponsorships count toward weekly caps and show no points.
Other bills by Ernest Gonzales
History
- Introduced in the House by Ernest Gonzales.
Show the full action history (2 actions)
- Introduced in House
- Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.