USCIS’s Office of Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS) continues to conduct unannounced and random site visits of H-1B Employers. The investigators investigate at either at the company headquarters or at the site of employment of the H-1B employee(s). USCIS announced it anticpates conducting 25,000 site visits this fiscal year, an increase of five-fold from last year, when it conducted 5,191 inspections.
The investigators are usually sub-contracted by USCIS to conduct field investigations and may not have the same level of knowledge of the H-1B and Labor Condition Application as the Human Resources personnel and the foreign national. Anecdotal accounts have been received that a report of noncompliance was filed when the H-1B worker was not at the work site because he had not yet arrived in the United States. In that instance, the investigator was likely confused between the H-1B petition validity date and the date the alien overseas would arrive to begin work.
Employers are advised to be extremely courteous and as helpful as possible and are advised to have expert immigration counsel at the site visit either in person or by telephone.
USCIS’s Office of Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS) continues to conduct unannounced and random site visits of H-1B Employers. The investigators investigate at either at the company headquarters or at the site of employment of the H-1B employee(s). USCIS announced it anticpates conducting 25,000 site visits this fiscal year, an increase of five-fold from last year, when it conducted 5,191 inspections.
The investigators are usually sub-contracted by USCIS to conduct field investigations and may not have the same level of knowledge of the H-1B and Labor Condition Application as the Human Resources personnel and the foreign national. Anecdotal accounts have been received that a report of noncompliance was filed when the H-1B worker was not at the work site because he had not yet arrived in the United States. In that instance, the investigator was likely confused between the H-1B petition validity date and the date the alien overseas would arrive to begin work.
Employers are advised to be extremely courteous and as helpful as possible and are advised to have expert immigration counsel at the site visit either in person or by telephone. Read the full news alert from Pederson Immigration.
Tags: Employers, FDNS, Fraud, H-1B, Site Visits, USCIS
