The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the Department of Labor (DOL) has temporarily suspended the collection of H-2A labor certification fees.
Implementing a temporary suspension period will allow ETA’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) to move toward accepting electronic fees, as directed by an executive order by President Trump. That order, Executive Order 14247, is titled Modernizing Payments To and From America’s Bank Account. OFLC will be transitioning from collecting fees submitted in paper format (checks) to implementing a process to receive fee remittances electronically.
During the temporary suspension period, OFLC will not issue invoices for certification fees for H-2A Applications for Temporary Certifications that are certified and will not seek retroactive payment of fees for those certifications. Any employer that is issued an H-2A certification fee invoice prior to the effective date of the temporary suspension of collections must pay the invoice by the due date. This suspension notice was scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on July 31.
The DOL will resume collecting these fees once it transitions to collecting fees electronically. The end of the temporary suspension period will be announced via a Federal Register notice.
Additional information about the suspension is available from Brian Pasternak, OFLC administrator, by calling 202-693-8200.
The H-2A nonimmigrant visa program allows employers to hire foreign workers in the United States on a temporary basis to perform agricultural labor or services. The vast majority of Florida citrus is harvested by H-2A workers. DOL stated that the transition from mailed checks and money orders to electronic receipt of H-2A certification fees will result in a more efficient and less burdensome process for both the government and American employers who rely on the H-2A visa program.
Source: DOL
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