← Northwest Horticultural Council
USCISRulemakingUSCIS-2021-0010

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Fee Schedule and Changes to Certain Other Immigration Benefit Request Requirements; Second Correction

RIN
—
Last modified
Jan 21, 2025
Comment window
closed 1233d ago
Northwest Horticultural Council filings
1

Activity

Northwest Horticultural Council filed 1 comment on this docket between Apr 14, 2023 and Apr 14, 2023. 218 other organizations filed here. The comment window closed 1233d ago.

What Northwest Horticultural Council filed (1)

Apr 14, 2023· Comment Submitted by Northwest Horticultural Council· USCIS-2021-0010-7170

The NHC is a trade association that represents the growers, packers, and shippers of apples, pears, and cherries on federal and international trade policy and regulatory issues. A complete version of the NHC's comments on this proposal are enclosed. The NHC represents growers with farms of all sizes. While it remains cost-prohibitive for many, more and more growers have turned to the H-2A program to secure the workforce they need to grow and harvest their crops – in spite of paying a wage that is 19 percent or more above the state minimum wage, plus the substantial costs of providing benefits like housing and transportation. With the scarcity of domestically sourced labor becoming more and more acute, some packers are looking to the H-2B program to fulfill their labor needs. The NHC strongly opposes the fee increases, as proposed in their totality, for named and unnamed beneficiaries on H-2A and H-2B I-129 petitions. With the proposed fee increase and additional asylum fee, the cost of filing a petition for H-2A unnamed beneficiaries would increase by 145 percent to $1,130, and by 267 percent to $1,690 for named beneficiaries. The cost of filing a petition for H-2B unnamed beneficiaries would increase by 156 percent to $1,180 and the cost of filing a petition for named beneficiaries would increase by 265 percent to $1,680. With the 25 worker limit on petitions for named beneficiaries, the increases would be substantially higher in many cases. The NHC recognizes that a fee increase may be necessary to cover higher costs associated with processing I-129 petitions for the H-2A and H-2B programs. We also recognize that the costs associated with processing petitions for named beneficiaries may be higher than for unnamed beneficiaries. The proposal would increase the actual fee to process I-129 forms for H-2A petitions by $70 to $530 for unnamed beneficiaries (15 percent) and $630 increase to $1,090 (137 percent) for named beneficiaries. For forms associated with H-2B petitions, fees are proposed to be increased by $120 to $580 (26 percent) for unnamed beneficiaries and $620 to $1,080 (135 percent) for named beneficiaries. While significant, these fee increases can likely be absorbed by tree fruit growers utilizing the H-2A program and packers using the H-2B program. However, should such increases be implemented, growers should have assurances of timely processing of I-129 forms in order to not delay the beginning, transfer, or extension of worker contracts. In conclusion, the NHC accepts the proposed fee increase for processing I-129 forms for H-2A and H-2B petitions if the agency can provide assurances that petitions will be processed in a timely manner so that worker availability is not impacted. The NHC strongly opposes the proposed $600 asylum fee per petition and the limit of 25 named beneficiaries per petition, which – when coupled with the proposed processing fee increase – would be highly burdensome to current H-2A and H-2B employers, as well as those looking to use the program for the first time.

View on regulations.gov →

Abstract

On January 31, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a final rule to adjust certain immigration and naturalization benefit request fees charged by USCIS, add fee exemptions, and make changes to certain other immigration benefit request requirements. The rule took effect on April 1, 2024. In this notice, we are correcting a technical error made in that rule.

View on regulations.gov →

Co-filers (218)

See everyone who commented →