Tighter H-1B visa verification process recommended, USCIS accepts
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which conducts site visits to companies that hire foreign workers on H-1B visas as part of its objective to detect fraud, “could do more to prevent approving petitions for recurring violations and collaborate more with external stakeholders”, said the Office of Inspector General in its latest report released this week. “The agency lacks performance measures to show how site visits contribute to improving the H-1B Programme,” the Inspector General said. As per the report, USCIS can approve more than 3,30,000 H-1B petitions each year and, as of April 2017, reported more than 6,80,000 approved and valid H-1B petitions. “USCIS conducts a limited number of visits and does not always ensure the officers are thorough and comprehensive in their approach,” the report said, adding that further limiting the site visits’ effectiveness, USCIS does not always take proper action when immigration officers identify potential fraud or non-compliance. USCIS has also been recommended to develop comprehensive policies across Directorates in order to ensure adjudicative action prioritised on fraudulent or non-compliant immigration benefits identified by the H-1B ASVVP (Administrative Site Visit and Verification Programme) and targeted site visits, to which USCIS has nodded a yes. Among other things, USCIS has also been asked to enhance the random sampling procedures to also include a more risk-based approach that prioritises the recurring violators within the universe of H-1B-holders. -PTC News
