USCIS Publishes Federal Register Notices Announcing H-2A and H-2B Petitions Must Include Printed Copy of Electronic Final Determination Form

On March 5, 2020, USCIS published two Federal Register notices regarding the submission of final determination forms with H-2A and H-2B petitions. The notices, one for H-2A and one for H-2B, announce that petitioners must submit a printed copy of the electronic final determination form granting temporary labor certification (TLC) under the H-2A or H-2B programs through the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) system with the corresponding H-2A or H-2B petition as evidence of an original valid or original approved TLC.

USCIS previously announced the requirement on our website on July 26, 2019. Employers whose application for a TLC was processed in FLAG must include a printed copy of the electronic one-page Form ETA-9142B, Final Determination: H-2B Temporary Labor Certification Approval, with their Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, H-2B petitions, and USCIS will consider this printed copy as an original and approved TLC. On Oct. 1, 2019, USCIS announced that the electronic one-page Form ETA-9142A, Final Determination: H-2A Temporary Labor Certification Approval, must be submitted with Form I-129 H-2A petitions.

The publication of these Federal Register notices formally aligns USCIS procedures with DOL’s transition to the new FLAG electronic filing and application process system, through which DOL no longer provides the employer or authorized attorney with a paper copy of a certified Form ETA-9142A or Form ETA-9142B.