The rate for petition-based visas (including H visas) is changing from $150 to $190 per applicant.  The U.S. Consulate in Monterrey has indicated that if the visa fee for an applicant has already been paid prior to April 13, 2012, and the appointment is taking place before July 12, 2012, there will be no change for that applicant.

The justification that the Department gives is that they are required to recover, as far as possible, the cost of processing visas through the collection of application fees. For a number of reasons, the current fees no longer cover the actual cost of processing nonimmigrant visas. The nonimmigrant visa fee increase will support the addition and expansion of overseas facilities, as well as additional staffing required to meet increased visa demand.

This change is part of an interim final rule, which will result in the change taking place prior to the closing of the comment period by the Department.  FEWA will be submitting a comment opposing the fee increase.  If you would also like to submit a comment you may click here on or before May 29, 2012.

 On Friday, December 23, 2011, the President signed into law:

H.R. 2055 – “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012.”

S. 278 – “Sugar Loaf Fire Protection District Land Exchange Act of 2011″, which Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to exchange approximately five acres of Federal land located within the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest, for approximately five acres of land owned by the Sugar Loaf Fire Protection District of Boulder, Colorado.

S. 384 – which amends title 39, United States Code, to extend the authority of the United States Postal Service to issue a semi postal to raise funds for breast cancer research.

H.R. 2867 – “U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Reform and Reauthorization Act of 2011″, Reauthorizes and amends the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

H.R. 3421 – Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Act, Provides for the award of three congressional gold medals in honor of the men and women who perished as a result of the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, to be given to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania, the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York, and the Pentagon Memorial at the Pentagon.

H.R. 3672 – “Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2012″

The bill keeps the government funded through December 16 and contains the following legislative language:

None of the funds made available by this or any other Act for fiscal year 2012 may be used to implement, administer, or enforce, prior to January 1, 2012, the rule entitled “Wage Methodology for the Temporary  Non-agricultural Employment H-2B Program” published by the Department of Labor in the Federal Register on January 19, 2011 (76 Fed. Reg. 3452 et seq.).

 In its Joint Explanatory Statement, the conference committee also included the following report language:

 Section 546 prohibits any funds from being used to implement, administer, or enforce the “Wage Methodology for the Temporary Non-agricultural Employment H-2B Program” prior to January 1, 2012, to allow time for Congress to address this rulemaking. In making prevailing wage determinations for the H-2B nonimmigrant visa program for employment prior to January 1, 2012, the conferees direct the Secretary of Labor to continue to apply the rule entitled “Labor Certification Process and Enforcement for Temporary Employment in Occupations Other Than Agriculture or Registered Nursing in the United States (H-2B Workers); and Other Technical Changes” published by the Department of Labor on December 19, 2008 (73 Fed. Reg. 78020 et seq).

Please call your Member of Congress today and ask them to cosponsor this important legislation (Click here for talking points).  You can reach them through the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 225-3121.  Ask to speak to the staff person who handles immigration issues. Pease tell him or her about the importance of the H-2B program to your business and the community you serve.  Tell them what the rules mean to your company and to your American workers.  Please also call your two Senators and encourage them to support the introduction of similar legislation in the Senate (Click here for talking points).

As you know, DOL recently delayed the implementation of the wage rule from September 30 to November 30.  In issuing the delay, DOL cited the H-2B lawsuit supported by FEWA and many of our members, as well as a second lawsuit.  The delay also followed the September 21 Senate Appropriations Committee passage of a 2012 funding bill that would prevent DOL from enforcing the wage rule.  A draft bill released by the House appropriations committee would prohibit DOL from implementing both the wage rule and the proposed rule.   While the delay is helpful, we need to continue to fight these rules in Congress and in the courts. 

Congress is not expected to act on appropriations legislation until late this year.  We need to compel Congress to pass legislation prohibiting DOL from implementing the wage rule prior to November 30.  We also need to prevent DOL from finalizing the proposed rule.  Please call you Senators and Members of Congress today and ask them to cosponsor HR 3162.

FEWA has also put together some draft text in English and in Spanish to assist you in explaining the current situation to your workers.   Click here to view the sample text.

FEWA attended a live web chat with the Department of Labor (DOL) Employment Training Administration (ETA) on July 14th, 2011 regarding DOL regulations.  The majority of the hour-long session was spent discussing H2B.  FEWA staff members were able to get some direction on when to expect proposed changes to the H-2B program to be published in the Federal Register.

DOL stated that the final rule amending the effective date of the Wage Rule will be published on or around August 1, 2011.  This will determine if the new Wage Rule will be implemented on October 1, 2011 or January 1, 2012 and will provide additional information as to employer obligations once the rule is in effect.

With regard to the Comprehensive H-2B Proposed Rule, the DOL stated they are completing the process of analyzing comments and expect to publish a final rule by the end of December 2011.

This is positive news for the 2012 season.  As you know, one of the biggest changes in the proposed comprehensive rule is the length of the recruitment period; requiring employers to accept and offer jobs to qualified US workers up to 3 days before H-2B workers are scheduled to begin work.

If the final rule does not get published until the end of December, most FEWA members will have already completed the recruitment process under the terms of the current regulation.  DO NOT DELAY.  If you have not begun your 2012 H2B process, contact me today and let’s get started.