The Department of Labor has stepped up investigations into H-1B employers since last year.
The Labor Department has stepped up investigations of employers that use the H-1B program to hire foreign workers, conducting site visits, and asking employers complex technical questions, Bloomberg reported, citing data that the Labor Department has recorded a 48% increase in the number of cases for H-1B investigations since the launch of the Firewall project.
This project was launched last year to ensure that the H-1B visa program is not abused and that the rights, wages and job opportunities of American workers are protected. The department is also taking the help of artificial intelligence to find vulnerabilities. Immigration attorney Kevin Andrews said investigating officials are no longer focusing solely on drugs and thugs, but are looking for excessive technical violations. Another immigration attorney, Nandini Nair, told Bloomberg that some companies receive site visits every time they file a new H-1B petition.
These officials generally ask for more information about the specific candidate for whom they are petitioning, but then request immigration records and payroll for all employees. Another attorney, Brian Coughlin, told Bloomberg that the answers provided on the site are being compared with those in the petitions. Any mismatch could raise red flags for the government, he said. “No one can be prepared for this except to understand that they should not casually answer questions when it comes to minimum requirements or anything else,” he said.
“It is better to slow it down and look at the file that has been submitted to ensure the government gets the right information and a consistent message.”This year, for the first time, the H-1B lottery was wage-based rather than random. USCIS also changed its Form I-129 to ask employers questions about job requirements, including education, years of experience, technical skills, and supervisory roles.The intensified investigations come at a time when the H-1B visa program has emerged as the most controversial visa program as it is a three-year work visa that can be renewed and can serve as a path to a green card. American influencers have become vocal against the visa program, claiming that companies are laying off Americans because they can hire H-1Bs at cheaper wages.
