Mon 01 May 2023:
Immigration officials in the United States have found a significant scam underlying the massive increase in H-1B visa applications for the fiscal year 2024, which began in October. According to media reports, certain companies are collaborating to submit multiple applications for the same person in order to boost their chances of obtaining a temporary work visa.
There were 780,884 applications for H-1B visas in this year’s computer-generated lottery, up 61% from 483,927 last year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a message to “stakeholders.” Last year’s haul was up 57% from 308,613 applications the year before.
Each year, up to 85,000 people are selected for H-1B visas, a mainstay for technology giants such as Amazon.com Inc., Google parent Alphabet Inc., Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. and International Business Machines Corp.
It should be emphasized that the US issues H-1B visas through a lottery system, and people who apply several times have a better chance of acquiring the coveted visa.
The visa fraud was unearthed after immigration officials noted a massive surge in the H-1B visa applications for FY 2024. Companies filed a total of 780,884 applications for H-1B visas this fiscal year, 296,957 more than the FY 2023. On the other hand, just 301,447 applications were filed in 2022 and 274,237 in 2021.
US officials promise a crackdown
US immigration officials have now promised to bolster the registration process to reduce the chances of one person filing multiple applications. In a statement released Friday, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said, “The H-1B programme is an essential part of our nation’s immigration system and our economy, and the USCIS is committed to implementing the law and helping meet the ever-changing needs of the US labour market.”
“We are working on an upcoming H-1B modernisation rule that will propose, among other improvements, bolstering the H-1B registration process to reduce the possibility of misuse and fraud in the H-1B registration system,” it added.
USCIS may even revoke approvals based on false registration
The federal agency has warned that it will peruse the applications closely and will reject them if any information provided by the applicant is found incorrect. Also, it may deny or even revoke an approval based on a registration that contained false information and attestation.
As per the statement released by USCIS, “USCIS may also refer the individual or entity who submitted a false attestation to appropriate federal law enforcement agencies for investigation and further action, as appropriate.”
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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