On May 18th, 2022, DHS published a temporary final rule releasing an additional 35,000 H-2B visas for employers with a date of need between April 1, 2022 and September 30, 2022. 11,500 of the 35,000 visas were allocated to nationals of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras (Northern Central American Countries) and Haiti.
This is the administration’s third visa release specifically allocating a subset of visas to the Northern Triangle (NT) countries. The first allocation was in May of 2021. Given that these countries did not historically process a high volume of H-2 workers, we expected delays. We worked closely with the foreign governments, USAID and the U.S. consulates to rectify the numerous processing issues but even with this, most workers did not arrive until the end of July or early August.
It was our hope that after considering our feedback and instituting processing reforms, the Northern Triangle labor ministries would be prepared to process worker requests from the FY22 NT visa allocation timely and efficiently. This document is intended to assess the recent allocation.
What worked:
- Worker Database: Last summer the NT ministries did not have the worker database they claimed to have. When worker requests were submitted, agents and employers expected the ministries to quickly match those requests with workers from their databases. However, the ministries did not initially have a sufficient number of available workers. This led to significant delays as it took weeks to identify and recruit new workers. Fortunately, the ministries’ identification and recruitment of workers has greatly improved over the past year.. Their databases are now fresh and contain workers with a wide variety of skills. This has enabled the ministries to present worker lists to employers in a timely manner.
- Communication: Communication between the ministries and the employers/agents has improved significantly. Last year weeks would go by when the employers and agents would not receive an update on the status of their worker requests. This year the ministries have typically responded within 48 hours to inquiries from employers/agents.
- Firewall removed between consulates and agents/employers: Last year, one of our requested reforms was to remove the communication barriers between the consulates and the agents/employers. Since then, we were introduced to Dale Lim, the State Department Liaison to the Northern Triangle Consulates. Mr. Lim has been extremely helpful and responsive. In addition, we formed relationships with the consul generals and nonimmigrant visa chiefs in El Salvador and Honduras, both of whom have been responsive and helped resolve issues faced by our members. Maintaining access to key individuals within the agencies remains vitally important to resolving problems quickly and collaboratively.
What has not worked:
- Ministry processing issues: The ministries have done an excellent job of building up a database of workers but have struggled to process these workers efficiently.
- Poor communication with workers- The ministry must contact workers multiple times. First, to inform them of the offer from the employer, again to notify them of their interview, and then again to convey travel arrangements. There have been consistent issues with poor communication between the ministries and workers at one or more steps in this process. This has led to delays.
- DS-160 forms not completed for recruited workers- Two of our agent members presented their clients’ job orders in April, providing El Salvador with more than a month to identify workers and complete the DS-160 forms. When the agents sent in the USCIS approvals in early June, they found out that not a single DS-160 had been completed. DS-160s can be completed prior to a job offer/approval. There is zero excuse why these forms were not completed by the time approvals came in. This delayed the process by several weeks.
- DS-160 errors- Likely because the ministries have been overwhelmed with worker requests, numerous errors occurred on the DS-160 forms they submitted to the consulates. This led to processing delays as the errors must be corrected before visa issuance.
- Travel issues- In multiple instances, workers processed by the ministries were not informed of their flights The employers are forced to pay the rebooking fees for these missed airline flights and worker arrivals are delayed even further.
- Too many cooks in the kitchen- Between the ministry, USAID and USAID contactors, there are dozens of people involved in the process. This has created a situation where no one takes responsibility. There is no accountability when the ball is dropped. For example, USAID’s contractor in El Salvador, Palladium, uses another contractor to pick up the visas from the embassy. This contractor picked up a group of visas and left them on the desk of a ministry employee on a Friday afternoon. No one from the ministry was informed they were dropped off. For four days, no one knew where the visas were, and no one took responsibility. This is what happens when too many parties are involved in the process.
- Numerous agents also reported the need for significant staff time and resources to effectively manage worker processing in the NT countries. Given the large number of people involved, proactive and persistent communication initiated by the agent or employer was often necessary for timely information and updates. At least one agent resorted to sending its own representative to be present on the ground in the foreign country to oversee the process and ensure the job was getting done. As compared to the typical experience of employers and agents who utilize private facilitators, significantly more time and effort was necessary with the NT ministries given all the different people involved in various steps and the steep learning curve as the ministries balanced higher demand with managing the other downstream steps in the process.
Solutions:
- Establish collaborative relationship between ministries and private facilitators: From start to finish, foreign worker recruitment and facilitation is a multi-layered, complex process. For the recruitment efforts to bear fruit, workers need competent support every step of the way, from time of recruitment until they depart for the U.S. Given the ministries’ successful investment over the past two years in building up a worker database, now is the time to consider an enhanced partnership with ethical private facilitators who already have established knowledge and credibility in the NT countries and are well-positioned to assist with some of the more nuanced and technical aspects of worker processing. Doing so will allow the ministries to continue focusing on what they do best, establishing a foundation of vetted, qualified recruits without the burden of additional administrative functions (e.g., completing DS-160s forms, worker communications, scheduling consular appointments, travel arrangements etc.).
The embassies in the NT countries are already accustomed to working with a variety of independent facilitators and can assist with a vetting process, similar to what is done in Mexico, to ensure only those with the highest standards and proven track records are allowed to partner with the ministries.
A hybrid approach will take the best of what each party brings to the table and allow for continued expansion because the ministries will not have to be experts on the entire process from start to finish. This hybrid model will solve many of the current growing pains that resulted in process delays and errors. It will allow the ministries to expand their core mission of locating and vetting suitable workers.
- Switch appointment scheduling contractors: Currently, the U.S. Consulates in the Northern Triangle countries use Travel Docs (CGI) while the consulates in Mexico and other countries use CSRI by Yatri (The Official Visa Information and Appointment system for the Embassy of the United States in Mexico). Based on experience, Yatri has a much more efficient system and is less cumbersome. An employer/facilitator can also buy MRVs in bulk. Switching contractors to CSRA would significantly improve the processing times. If it is not possible to switch contractors, the Taskforce could facilitate direct coordination between Travel Docs and SEA to rectify our issues with their system. SEA worked directly with CSRA to help test and tweak the Yatri system before it became live. We could do the same with Travel Docs.
The Seasonal Employment Alliance remains committed to increasing H-2B program usage in the Northern Triangle countries. After two years of trying to make the current process work, we believe that expanding the opportunities for reputable private facilitators to work in partnership with the ministries to manage the downstream administrative and logistical challenges of worker processing is the only solution that will allow the H-2B program to expand in the NT countries. Despite improvements in some areas, the current system is not working. Reforms are necessary for the initiative to reach the visa issuance goals of the administration and USAID. Employers and agents will not commit to the Northern Triangle countries unless reforms are made.