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Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Program Descriptions

17.202:  Certification of Foreign Workers for Temporary Agricultural Employment

Popular Name: 

Objectives:  To enable agricultural employers to obtain temporary alien workers for temporary or seasonal jobs when domestic workers are not available; to protect domestic workers against unfair competition from foreign workers; and to assure adequate working and living conditions for domestic and foreign workers employed in similar tasks.

PROGRAM AND AWARD	FINANCIAL AND INFORMATION CONTACTS
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS	FINANCIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFO.
APPLICATION AND AWARD PROCESS	INFORMATION CONTACTS
RELATED PROGRAMS	ASSISTANCE CONSIDERATIONS
PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS	POST ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS

17.202 ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:

Applicant Eligibility:  Organizations and individuals interested in importing temporary foreign agricultural and logging workers.

Beneficiary Eligibility:  Organizations and individuals.

Credentials/Documentation:  The employer must submit a prescribed job order and documentation of his or her efforts to recruit domestic workers.

17.202 APPLICATION AND AWARD PROCESS:

Preapplication Coordination:  None. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.

Application Procedure:  Applications for alien agricultural workers are filed simultaneously with the DOL's ETA Regional Administrator and State Employment Service Agency in whose region and state and are not employers required to simultaneously file a copy the area of employment is located. Requesting employer must cooperate with efforts to locate qualified domestic workers in order to be certified to use foreign workers.

Award Procedure:  The requesting employer is notified by the Department of Labor in writing 20 days prior to the date of need.

Deadlines:  Applications for alien agriculture worker certification must be filed 60 days before the date of need.

Range of Approval/Disapproval Time:  Sixty (60) days.

Appeals:  The procedure for appeals is explained in 20 CFR Part 655, Subparts B and C for temporary certification.

Renewals:  Treated as new applications.

Criteria for Selecting Proposals:  Not applicable.

Examples of Funded Projects:  Not applicable.

Range and Average of Financial Assistance:  Not applicable.

17.202 RELATED PROGRAMS:

• 17.203 Labor Certification for Alien Workers;
• 17.207 Employment Service.

17.202 PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

17.202 FINANCIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFO:

Federal Agency:  EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Type of Assistance:  Provision of Specialized Services.

Obligations:  (Salaries and Expenses) FY 99 $31,300,000; FY 00 est $31,300,000; and FY 01 est $31,300,000. (Note: Obligations include total alien certification funding level for program 17.203, Labor Certification for Permanent and Alien Workers and 17.252, Attestations by Employers Using Non-Immigrant Aliens in Specialty Occupations.)

Budget Account Number:  16-0179-0-1-504; 16-0172-0-1-504.

Authorization:  Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, as amended, Public Law 82-414, 66 Stat. 163, 8 U.S.C. 1101, et seq.; Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, Public Law 99-603, 100 Stat. 3359, 8 U.S.C. 1186.

Regulations, Guidelines, and Literature:  Further information concerning the program may be found in 20 CFR 655 (temporary foreign workers).

17.202 INFO CONTACTS:

Regional or Local Office:  Contact the nearest local office of the State employment service or the appropriate Employment and Training Administration regional office listed in Appendix IV of the Catalog.

Headquarters Office:  United States Employment Service, Employment and Training Administration, Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20210. Phone: (202) 219-5257. Contact: John Beverly.

(See Appendix IV for more contact info.)

17.202 ASSISTANCE CONSIDERATIONS:

Formula and Matching Requirements:  Not applicable.

Length and Time Phasing of Assistance:  Not applicable.

Uses and Use Restrictions:  Employers who need workers for temporary agricultural jobs may be certified to use foreign workers after the Secretary of Labor has determined that there are not sufficient domestic workers capable of performing the job duties and that the employment of aliens will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed domestic workers. Certifications will be made only after efforts to recruit domestic workers through the Federal-State employment service system are unsuccessful. Certifications are sent to the employer in support of the petition to be filed with the Immigration and Naturalization Service which makes the final decision whether to grant or deny the admission of foreign workers.

17.202 POST ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS:

Reports:  Not applicable.

Audits:  Selected audits are conducted by the Department of Labor.

Records:  Payroll records must be retained for not less than 3 years after completion of the contract work.