One of the pinch points for employers using the H2A program has been the flow of information in the USCIS and State Department. USCIS announced this week that the USCIS will now be sending approval notices to the Department of state electronically instead of a paper form process vastly speeding up the ability of the local consulates to have the approvals in hand for prospective H2A workers.

What does this mean for gins? Not Much since VERY few gins use H2A. Why are we posting this? Our position is that there needs to be a workable guest worker program for small employers like gins before employer side enforcement and border security are increased. With the rhetoric in the upcoming election, any improvement in the guest worker programs are welcomed.

In recent months a number of vegetable producers across the country have complained about the pace of getting workers approved. This change in the process to handle the approvals electronically should help that process. We look forward to more improvements in the future.