H-2A Deadline April 21st

With today's Fruit Grower Report, I'm Bob Larson. If you're a farmer looking to hire some of the thousands of H-2A-visa seasonal workers expected in our state this year, WAFLA's Montse Walker says the newly established application deadline is fast approaching ...

MONTSE WALKER ... "WAFLA has set a deadline of April 21st and that's the last date we'll accept applications for the year because we want to make sure that we plan accordingly and that we can submit paperwork on time. So, we've seen an exponential growth in the program. There was an article that estimated 15,000 workers for Washington state this year and, so far, we have about 7,000 positions total."

Walker says in the past, the only application deadline was 75 days before the employee was needed ...

MONTSE WALKER ... "The thinking behind that was planning mostly. We want to make sure that we can help employers as much as possible in planning stages and that we can manage the applications in the best way also. So, it didn't make a lot of sense for us to continue to accept applications at such a high volume without being able to really communicate with each member and help them through the process. So, we want to make sure we're providing a good, quality service and that we're helping our members succeed in the program."

Walker says the new deadline is aimed mostly at new applicants and helping them through a challenging world with uncertain immigration rules.

Listen tomorrow for more on this work visa deadline.