by Patricia Schaeffer, Vice President-Regulatory Affairs
A new study (“H-1B Benefit Fraud & Compliance Assessment”) released by the Department of Homeland Security’s Citizenship and Immigration Services of a random sample of cases of H-1B petitions for highly skilled foreign workers are fraudulent (13.4 percent) or contain technical violations (7.3 percent). The type of abuses included: H-1B workers not working at the job location specified in the petition or labor certification; the H-1B worker were not paid the required “prevailing wage;” fraudulent or forged documents such as fraudulent overseas degrees and work experience letters; significantly different job duties than described in the H-1B petition; and H-1B workers paying the petition filing fee instead of employers as required by law.