H.R. 4708 · 118th Congress
H–2 Improvements to Relieve Employers Act
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Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 118th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.
R
GonzalesSponsor37 cosponsors · 14 D, 23 R
R
Bice
DB
R
Bacon
HC
D
Cuellar
JC
R
Ciscomani
MD
R
De La Cruz
JD
R
Duarte
VG
D
Gonzalez
ML
R
Lawler
NM
R
Malliotakis
JJ
R
(Jim) Moylan
CP
D
Pappas
MS
R
Salazar
DS
D
Soto
ST
D
Thanedar
DV
R
Valadao
JV
R
Van Drew
LC
R
Chavez-DeRemer
AK
D
Kuster
KM
D
Manning
DT
D
Trone
LB
R
Bucshon
CC
R
(Chuck) Edwards
NM
R
Moran
WN
D
Nickel
JB
R
Baird
JG
R
González-Colón
ML
R
Luttrell
RY
R
Yakym
CH
D
Houlahan
BJ
R
Johnson
ES
D
Slotkin
YK
R
Kim
DP
D
Phillips
LS
R
Smucker
DM
R
Meuser
JJ
D
Jackson
RK
D
Krishnamoorthi16 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.
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.
What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in House · Jul 18, 2023
H-2 Improvements to Relieve Employers Act or the HIRE Act
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.
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 nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov
About this bill and sources
Official title: H–2 Improvements to Relieve Employers Act
Latest action (Jul 18, 2023): 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.
Policy area: Immigration · Origin: House · Introduced: Jul 18, 2023
Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)
No recorded floor vote found.