H-1B Employers And Increasing Site Inspections
Posted October 25th, 2009 by admin
The USCIS’s Office of Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS) recently reviewed the H-1B program. FDNS may conduct unannounced physical site inspections of residences and places of employment and hold interviews.The visits may occur at the principal place of business and/or at the H-1B non immigrant work location as indicated on the 1-29 petition. USCIS may use a variety of ways to verify namely- review public records and information by written correspondence, Internet, facsimile or other electronic transmission, or telephone. Although most H-1B site visits have occurred post adjudication, a USCIS adjudications officer may refer an H1-B petition to the FDNS for a site visit prior to the completion of an adjudication. This may be especially true with H1-B extensions with the same H-1B employer. The USCIS Vermont Service Center has transferred approximately 20,000 cases to FDNS as part of the H-1B assessment program USCIS California Service Center has also forwarded a sizable number of cases for review. Hence the visits by the FDNS officers may increase.
Some general guidelines for the employers who are employing H-1B employees:
- Employers should request the name, title and contact information for the site investigator, as there are multiple agencies that may audit H-1B program.
- The employer may request the presence of the attorney. If the attorney is not immediately available the site inspection must be terminated.
- The employers should not speak with the government agents or contractors without a witness.
- Employers should retain complete records of public access file. It should be reviewed prior to meeting with the FDNS officer.
- If the beneficiary has been placed at a client site not controlled by the employer, the employer should notify the end user about the current H-1B assessment program and the possibility of a site visit.
- The end user should be made aware of the identity of the H-1B employer and review the terms of the agreement.
- Generally the employer/or the end user should comply with the reasonable requests of the FDNS officer.However, if the FDNS officer requests to access secure areas, an employer may suggest less sensitive areas to conduct interviews with the beneficiary.The employer should explain if it has strict policies against tours and photographs of the sensitive areas.
- The employer should not guess about any information and should indicate to the FDNS officer that he will follow up to provide accurate information.
- The record should be kept of any documentation provided to the FDNS officer during the site visit.
The maximum allotted visas authorized by Congress are 65,000 new H1B visas per fiscal year with some exceptions. The first 20,000 H1B visas issued to alien workers who obtained their master's degree here in the U.S. prada sunglasses are exempt from the 65,000 cap; H1B visas issued to such individuals subsequent to the first 20,000 are then counted against the overall 65,000 cap. Some U.S. Senators have proposed increasing the cap, gucci sunglasses but such legislation is yet to be passed by Congress. Foreign nationals in the U.S. in lawful H1B status who are seeking to extend their visa or change employers are not affected by the annual limit. maui jim sunglasses Employers should also consider that the foreign national who they intend to employ must be in lawful non-immigrant status which must be valid until October 1, 2009 which is the affectivity date of that approved H1B Visa. Should the foreign national not meet this requirement, for example a person in B-2 or Tourist visa may elect to have his/her B-2 tourist visa extended so that they may bridge the gap between the time their authorized stay (I-94) expires until October 1, 2009. versace sunglasses If extending the B-2 tourist visa is not an option, the foreign national may then leave the U.S. and return to their home country before their authorized stay (I-94) visa expires and obtain their H1B visa at the U.S. Embassy in their home country.
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