! Notice to all Commercial Beekeepers !
Concerning the Ineligibility of Nicaraguan Beekeepers to receive H2a visa status for the USA
On Jan 17, 2009 the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) removed Nicaraguans from the list of eligible H2a countries. There was no advance warning of this change. The change to the program has caused a severe shortage of qualified beekeepers for the commercial beekeeping industry in the USA. The industry has used a large number of Nicaraguans over the last decade to fill job positions and now finds itself without the labor force to which they have become accustomed. All labor certification requests processed by the Department of Labor (DOL) were not approved until the last day legally permitted which is 30 days prior to the date of need of the worker in the USA. Thus if a date of need was Feb 20, DOL would not issue a labor certification until Jan 20. As you can see this sets up a big part of the problem as everyone is required to submit labor certification documentation to USCIS when requesting an H2a worker. If an application was received at USCIS prior to Jan 17 then they processed it and allowed Nicaraguan workers. If an application was received on or after Jan 17 an application requesting Nicaraguan workers would have been denied.
agriworkers.com would like to take this opportunity to explain to our clients and the beekeeping industry in general the steps we have taken since first being made aware of the change disallowing Nicaraguan workers.
02/09/09 - received the first denial for Nicaraguan workers from USCIS and a request for "further evidence".
02/11/09 - informed all clients via email or fax of the new regulation effective Jan 17. We explained that we would proceed with the requests for "further evidence" if they wished but we stated that we thought it would be very difficult. We thought it might be best to look for workers in an eligible country. We decided on Costa Rica. Most clients agreed with our assessment.
02/12/09 - sent clients via email or fax the list of eligible H2a countries which we we received from USCIS on Feb 11.
02/12/09 - sent "additional evidence" requested by USCIS (passports and past visas of Nicaraguan beekeepers) as well as a personal appeal for the need of experienced Nicaraguan beekeepers.
02/12/09 - contacted newspapers and radio stations in Costa Rica to coordinate a massive advertising campaign. We also contacted a number of beekeeping associations and set up a beekeeper meeting for Feb 14.
02/13/09 - advertising ran for 4 days in all Costa Rican markets. Response was overwhelming.
02/13/09 - arranged hotel stays, travel itineraries, cellular telephone service and a conference room to conduct interviews.
02/14/09 - meeting was conducted with over 30 beekeepers attending as well as 4 government officials in a remote area of CR explaining our desire to contract Costa Rican beekeepers.
02/15/09 - all team members including our attorney arrived in San Jose Costa Rica.
02/16/09 - hired new support staff in San Jose Costa Rica to answer telephone inquiries, eliminate non-beekeepers and schedule interviews. We received more than 800 calls over the following 10 days.
02/18/09 - met with H2a officials at US embassy in San Jose Costa Rica. We explained our mission and they agreed to work with us to the best of their ability. We also communicated directly with the Vice-Consul who offered his support to our request to help us speedily expedite Costa Rican H2a visa interviews.
02/18-21/09 - conducted initial interviews and eliminated another group of non beekeepers. We requested change of country for our clients to Costa Rica and paid the corresponding fee of $585.00 to USCIS per application.
02/21/09 - met with one of our clients who flew to CR to have opportunity of sitting in on the interview process and talking directly to applicants.
02/22/09 - initial analysis of applicant data and discussion of location options for apiary tests for all successful applicants.
02/23/09 - contacted a number of apiaries throughout the country and arranged for apiary tests.
02/25-28/09 - conducted over 60 apiary tests in different locations.
02/27/09 - on the last day permitted by law USCIS responded with a denial to our request to use Nicaraguan workers for one of our clients despite the fact that they had prior H2A status and posed no threat to national security.
02/28/09 - USCIS approved our first application requesting Costa Rican beekeepers.
03/02/09 - consolidated the database and qualified over 50 Costa Rican Beekeepers. Contacted the US Embassy requesting interviews early for the week of Mar 9.
03/03-15/09 - more advertising and interviews will be conducted throughout Costa Rica to meet beekeepers that were unable to contact us earlier. We expect to qualify between 75-100 Costa Rican beekeepers by Mar 15.
03/11/09 - United States Embassy in San Jose Costa Rica issues appointments for first beekeeper applications with Costa Rican beekeepers. The visa interview will take place the morning of Friday March 13 2009.
03/13/09 - United States Embassy interviews first two Costa Rican beekeepers at 8 am. They are accepted as legitimate beekeepers seeking H2a entry to the USA. Interviews were successful and visas were issued on Friday 13 of March.
03/13/09 - All client applications received at USCIS after Jan 17 for Nicaraguan workers were unsuccessful. All client applications are now being processed for Costa Rican Beekeepers.
03/16/09 - First 2 Costa Rican beekeepers left for USA and were admitted without any problems.
There you have it. That is what Agriworkers.com has done to date in order to advance our clients possibilities of receiving qualified beekeepers before the end of March. Is it a little late? Yes possibly, but better a little late than never. If you are struggling with a similar situation then we invite you to contact us. If you or your agent have processed paperwork only to find that your Nicaraguan workers will not be allowed to work this year then www.agriworkers.com can help with the appeal process and/or supply your agent or outfit with qualified beekeepers. Contact us or have your agent contact us NOW!
Our goal is to serve our clients responsibly, respectfully and in a timely manner. call 1 888 467 3181 toll free.
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