Increased H-1B Worksite Visits and I-9 Audits

Confirmation recently has come from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that 25,000 more onsite administrative visits to H1B-sponsoring employers are being conducted. These site visits began in July 2009 and are part of an effort to address violations within the H1B system. Separately, in November 2009, the Assistant Secretary of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the initiation of 1,000 new workplace audits.

The announcement indicated that ICE issued 1,000 notices of inspection (NOIs) to employers associated with, what ICE characterizes as, critical infrastructure. Thus, employers should be prepared for this higher level of careful government review of their employment practices related to immigration.

USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas verified an increase in worksite visits to H1B employers as part of recently-released correspondence with U.S. Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), an ardent opponent of the H1B program. The site visit program began in July 2009, and includes a plan to conduct 25,000 such visits in fiscal year (FY) 2010. This is approximately five times the number of site visits that were conducted in FY2009.

The site visits verify basic facts relevant to the validity of the H1B petition. This includes verification of the existence of the employment location, and whether the foreign national is performing the duties described in the H1B petition at the work location listed on the labor condition application (LCA) filed with the H1B petition. Also verified is payment of the prevailing wage salary, as required by the LCA.

At a November 19, 2009 U.S. Department of Homeland Security program, Ronald Atkinson, Chief of Staff of USCIS's Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS) office, described three types of site visits currently being conducted. First, site visits may be a part of the FDNS's Risk Assessment Program Fraud Study, which often includes the random selection of approved H1B petitions for review. Second, Targeted Site Visits are conducted if fraud is already suspected. In these cases, an FDNS officer or a contractor will visit the worksite to ask questions, and, if desired, review documents.

Lastly, Administrative Site Visits occur in both religious worker and H1B programs and are often conducted by contractors who have little or no knowledge of immigration law. These contractors have a set list of issues to check, including whether the facility appears to be consistent with the business that filed the H1B petition.

They will try to make contact with a representative of the organization and obtain information about the operation of the business, and the position held by the beneficiary. Their inquiries are intended to determine the legitimacy of the petition and the business operation.

Since ICE announced its new enforcement strategies in April 2009, as described in our June 5, 2009 NewsBrief, I-9s, Indictments and ICE Enforcement, 45 businesses and 47 individuals have been debarred from participation in immigration programs. ICE issued 142 notices of intent to fine (NIFs) for nearly $16 million dollars in fines and 45 final orders, totaling nearly $800,000 in fines and forfeitures. This represents a significant increase over 2008 for all measures.

The 654 I-9 audits announced in July 2009 resulted in the identification of 14,000 documents ICE has classified as suspect. This is a rate of 16 percent of all documents reviewed. Thus far, the 654 audits have resulted in 61 NIFs, totaling more than $2.3 million dollars. There are 267 more cases under consideration for fines. ICE also closed 326 of the audit cases, as the businesses were either in compliance or found appropriate to receive only a warning.


http://www.greencardapply.com/news/news10/news10_0104.htm

www.greencardapply.com
www.greencardfamily.com