{"format":1,"id":"117-hr-1603","congress":117,"number":"H.R. 1603","kind":"bill","group":"bills","title":"Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2021","title_source":"Short Title(s) as Passed House","official_title":"To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for terms and conditions for nonimmigrant workers performing agricultural labor or services, and for other purposes.","titles":[{"type":"Official Title as Introduced","title":"To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for terms and conditions for nonimmigrant workers performing agricultural labor or services, and for other purposes."},{"type":"Short Titles from RFS (Referred to Senate) bill text","title":"Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2021"},{"type":"Short Title(s) for portions of this bill from RFS (Referred to Senate) bill text","title":"Strategy and Investment in Rural Housing Preservation Act of 2021"},{"type":"Display Title","title":"Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2021"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Introduced","title":"Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2021"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Introduced for portions of this bill","title":"Strategy and Investment in Rural Housing Preservation Act of 2021"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Passed House for portions of this bill","title":"Strategy and Investment in Rural Housing Preservation Act of 2021"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Passed House","title":"Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2021"}],"outcome":"passed_house","law_number":null,"introduced":"2021-03-08","chambers":{"house":{"status":"roll_call","date":"2021-03-18","vote":{"id":"117-2021-h93","question":"On Passage","title":"Farm Workforce Modernization Act","result":"Passed","yea":247,"nay":174,"present":0,"not_voting":8,"source":"https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2021/roll093.xml"}},"senate":{"status":"na","date":null,"vote":null}},"president":{"status":"na","date":null},"vice_president_tie_breaker":null,"latest_action":{"text":"Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.","date":"2021-03-22"},"nominees":null,"amendments":[],"other_votes":[{"chamber":"house","date":"2021-03-18","question":"On Motion to Recommit","title":"Farm Workforce Modernization Act","result":"Failed","yea":204,"nay":218,"present":0,"not_voting":7,"kind":"procedural","source":"https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2021/roll092.xml"}],"crs_summary":{"date":"2021-03-18","stage":"Passed House","blocks":[{"k":"h","t":"Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2021"},{"k":"p","t":"This bill contains provisions related to alien farmworkers, including provisions establishing a certified agricultural worker (CAW) status and changing the H-2A temporary worker program."},{"k":"p","t":"The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may grant CAW status to an applying alien who (1) performed at least 1,035 hours of agricultural labor during the two-year period prior to March 8, 2021; (2) on that date was inadmissible, deportable, or under a grant of deferred enforced departure or temporary protected status; and (3) has been continuously present in the United States from that date until receiving CAW status. The bill imposes additional crime-related inadmissibility grounds on CAW applicants and makes some other grounds inapplicable."},{"k":"p","t":"CAW status shall be valid for 5.5 years and may be extended. DHS may grant dependent status to the spouse or children of a principal alien."},{"k":"p","t":"An alien with a pending application may not be detained or removed by DHS and shall be authorized for employment until DHS makes a final decision on the application."},{"k":"p","t":"A CAW alien (and dependents) may apply for lawful permanent resident status after meeting various requirements, including performing a certain amount of agricultural labor for a number of years."},{"k":"p","t":"DHS shall create an electronic platform for (1) filing H-2A petitions, (2) facilitating the processing of H-2A cases, and (3) providing agencies a single tool for obtaining H-2A-related case information."},{"k":"p","t":"The bill makes various changes to the H-2A program, such as (1) modifying the method for calculating and making adjustments to the H-2A worker minimum wage, (2) specifying how an employer may satisfy requirements that it attempted to recruit U.S. workers, (3) requiring H-2A employers to guarantee certain minimum work hours, (4) making the program available for agricultural work that is not temporary or seasonal, and (5) reserving a visa allocation for the dairy industry."},{"k":"p","t":"DHS shall establish a pilot program allowing certain H-2A workers to apply for portable status, which gives the worker 60 days after leaving a position to secure new employment with a registered H-2A employer."},{"k":"p","t":"DHS shall establish an electronic system patterned on the E-Verify Program for employers to verify an individual's identity and employment authorization. Employers hiring individuals for agricultural employment must use the system."},{"k":"p","t":"This bill permanently establishes the Housing Preservation and Revitalization Program, which provides financing assistance for rural rental housing and off-farm labor housing and rental assistance for qualified tenants of such housing. It also authorizes the Department of Agriculture to provide various assistance, including funding for insuring loans and grants for new farmworker housing."}],"words":422},"summary":{"main_subject":{"text":"Creates temporary and permanent residence status for certain agricultural workers, rewrites the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program, funds rural and farmworker housing programs, and requires agricultural employers to use an electronic employment verification system.","cites":[{"label":"Title I","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1603/text/eh#toc-HBCB4E5F4184149618169BD23F496A929"},{"label":"Title II","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1603/text/eh#toc-H171147C7FDFB4F2998BB97560047968D"},{"label":"Title III","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1603/text/eh#toc-HCC7DD8CC370647BDB876786958A5B0C3"}]},"core_areas":["Certified agricultural worker status and adjustment to permanent residence","H-2A temporary agricultural worker program requirements and wages","Foreign labor recruiter registration and enforcement","Rural rental and farmworker housing programs","Electronic employment eligibility verification for agricultural employment"],"what_it_does":[{"text":"Allows the Secretary of Homeland Security to grant certified agricultural worker status to an eligible alien who performed at least 1,035 hours (or 180 work days) of agricultural labor or services in the 2-year period before the date of the Act's introduction.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 101","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1603/text/eh#toc-HD626BC4D46684D1E90A5A6E2593AFDB2"}},{"text":"Allows the Secretary to adjust a certified agricultural worker to lawful permanent resident status after a required number of years of agricultural work, and requires the principal alien to pay a $1,000 penalty fee.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 111","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1603/text/eh#toc-HFE054AF305854461B315690CBA0D6AA7"}},{"text":"Requires the establishment, within 12 months, of an electronic platform through which H-2A petitions are filed and reviewed by the Departments of Homeland Security and Labor and State workforce agencies.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 201","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1603/text/eh#toc-H22104EF3D3AA403C8AFDC04C0304BA50"}},{"text":"Replaces section 218 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, requiring H-2A employers to offer wages at least the greatest of the collective bargaining wage, the adverse effect wage rate, the prevailing wage, or the Federal or State minimum wage.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 202","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1603/text/eh#toc-H21F8FB5397454B4B980FEC37BD48FC16"}},{"text":"Allows approval of H-2A petitions for agricultural work that is not temporary or seasonal, limited to 20,000 aliens in each of the first 3 fiscal years, with half of the visas in each half-year reserved for the dairy industry.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 202","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1603/text/eh#toc-H21F8FB5397454B4B980FEC37BD48FC16"}},{"text":"Requires a 6-year pilot program for portable H-2A status, limited to 10,000 holders at one time, under which a worker has 60 days after leaving a job to secure new employment with a registered agricultural employer.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 206","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1603/text/eh#toc-H97BD52A57D894022A38F5E3BBB69D4E1"}},{"text":"Adds a program to the Housing Act of 1949 for preserving and revitalizing rural multifamily rental housing projects, and authorizes $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 221","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1603/text/eh#toc-H4F1533B3601D4A5DAB75FA04B28F5C13"}},{"text":"Requires the Secretary of Labor to establish electronic registration of foreign labor recruiters who recruit H-2A workers, including a sworn declaration, a bond, and an attestation that no recruitment fees will be charged to workers.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 251","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1603/text/eh#toc-H7FA1EFE588F84880BF67D82531617CD3"}},{"text":"Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish an electronic system, patterned on the E-Verify Program, for verifying the identity and employment authorization of individuals.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 301","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1603/text/eh#toc-H3863BF78B62B4D0B830BF12091C14D4F"}},{"text":"Requires persons and entities hiring for agricultural employment to use the electronic verification system, starting 6 months after the application period for employers with 500 or more employees and later for smaller employers.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 302","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1603/text/eh#toc-HAB888F30E3714E648C2E5EA5A83D4CD7"}}],"unexpected":[{"category":"off_subject","items":[{"cite":{"label":"Sec. 308","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1603/text/eh#toc-H77CC0B4099BD47418BEA07F1AEEFEA89"},"heading":"Modernizing and streamlining the employment eligibility verification process","effect":"Requires a plan to Congress within 12 months to modernize and streamline the employment eligibility verification process, including a proposal to end Form I-9 completion for employers that use the electronic system.","amount":null,"quote":"a proposal to create a simplified employment verification process that allows employers that utilize the employment eligibility verification system"}]},{"category":"place_specific_amount","items":[{"cite":{"label":"Sec. 202","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1603/text/eh#toc-H21F8FB5397454B4B980FEC37BD48FC16"},"heading":"H–2A program requirements","effect":"Rewrites the H-2A program rules. Within the visa allocation for non-seasonal H-2A jobs, it reserves 50 percent of visas each half-year for dairy industry employers, and separately allows up to 500 visas for range sheep or goat herding outside the general cap.","amount":null,"quote":"50 percent of such visas shall be reserved for employers filing petitions seeking H–2A workers to engage in agricultural labor or services in the dairy industry"},{"cite":{"label":"Sec. 230","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1603/text/eh#toc-H533C885A225D4A818D9DD4BB9B3C3286"},"heading":"Operating assistance subsidies","effect":"Adds a separate operating-assistance rule for projects housing domestic farm labor: assistance is capped at 50 percent of operating costs, and owners qualify only if the Secretary certifies the project was unoccupied or underutilized beforehand.","amount":null,"quote":"shall not exceed an amount equal to 50 percent of the operating costs for the project for the year, as determined by the Secretary"}]},{"category":"selective_carve_out","items":[{"cite":{"label":"Sec. 128","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1603/text/eh#toc-H0C1D809D984A4051AD27F658B797F4CE"},"heading":"Correction of social security records; conforming amendments","effect":"Amends the Social Security Act and the Internal Revenue Code so that aliens granted certified agricultural worker or dependent status are excluded from the definition of employment in those provisions, and adds a related exception to a Social Security Act provision on account number conduct.","amount":null,"quote":"other than aliens granted certified agricultural worker status or certified agricultural dependent status under title I of the Farm Work Modernization Act of 2021"},{"cite":{"label":"Sec. 302","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1603/text/eh#toc-HAB888F30E3714E648C2E5EA5A83D4CD7"},"heading":"Mandatory electronic verification for the agricultural industry","effect":"Sets different start dates for mandatory electronic verification in agricultural hiring by employer size: 6, 9, 12 or 15 months after the application period, and lets the Secretary delay some dates up to 180 days.","amount":null,"quote":"With respect to employers having 100 or more employees in the United States (but less than 500 such employees) on the date of the enactment of this Act, on the date that is 9 months"},{"cite":{"label":"Sec. 132","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1603/text/eh#toc-H6B2B674939A142E3B01E98904F2F9EE2"},"heading":"Exemption from numerical limitations","effect":"Exempts people who adjust to lawful permanent resident status under this title from the numerical limits in title II of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and they are not counted toward those limits.","amount":null,"quote":"shall not apply to the adjustment of aliens to lawful permanent resident status under this title, and such aliens shall not be counted toward any such numerical limitation."},{"cite":{"label":"Sec. 206","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1603/text/eh#toc-H97BD52A57D894022A38F5E3BBB69D4E1"},"heading":"Portable H–2A visa pilot program","effect":"Sets up a 6-year pilot program in which registered agricultural employers may employ portable H-2A workers without filing a petition, notwithstanding section 218 requirements, with no more than 10,000 workers holding the status at one time.","amount":null,"quote":"Registered agricultural employers may employ aliens with portable H–2A status without filing a petition."},{"cite":{"label":"Sec. 207","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1603/text/eh#toc-H2DD69A64550B49399EB1B265BDEDB09B"},"heading":"Improving access to permanent residence","effect":"Raises the worldwide employment-based visa level from 140,000 to 180,000, reserves visas for agricultural workers and for H-2A workers with 10 years of employment, and exempts those reserved visas from the per-country limit.","amount":null,"quote":"Visas described under clause (ii) shall be issued without regard to the numerical limitation under section 202(a)(2)."}]}],"version":{"type":"Engrossed in House","date":"2021-03-18","rule":"passed","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1603/text/eh"},"current":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","approved":"2026-10-15","approved_by":"checks"},"sources":{"congress_gov":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1603","text":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1603/text"},"card":{"image":"card/item/117-hr-1603.png","v":"b77aa50ea053","alt":"Votes on Record. H.R. 1603, 117th Congress: Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2021. House: 247 Yea, 174 Nay. Outcome: Passed House, 18 Mar 2021."}}