NSC Update on Indian H1B Computer Professionals
Posted Apr 20, 1999

In previous editions of The Law Office of Sheela Murthy Bulletin, we reported on the practice of the Nebraska Service Center (NSC) and the Texas Service Center (TSC) sending Indian credentials to the Consulate at Chennai for verification prior to issuing an H1B Petition approval in the U.S. From time to time we have provided updates on procedures and policies in this regard.

In a recent liaison meeting with representatives from the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the NSC, the INS officers commented about variations in H1B processing times. NSC mentioned that one of the factors affecting processing times was that "greater scrutiny has been given to H1B petitions for computer technicians from the Chennai area," so the processing time is slower than for other H1B cases.

With respect to verification of credentials, instead of waiting for an answer in every case, NSC has decided that if a response has not been received from the Consulate after 60 days, that it will take action on the case without the information. (For those cases filed prior to December 15, 1998 that were sent to Chennai, either a decision, or a request for additional evidence has been or will be issued during March and April 1999.)

For those who may have wondered why some, but not all, H1B filings for beneficiaries from the Chennai area are referred to the Consulate, there is apparently a "limited referral profile" which NSC uses as a guideline. The guidelines may help you to understand the reasons for the delay or attempt to provide the needed information up front so as to avoid a delay in the H1B Petition approval.

The INS memorandum provides that cases are likely to be investigated if any two of the following factors listed below are satisfied. Keep in mind that having 2 or more of the factors does not mean that the person will not automatically not obtain an H1B visa; it means that the case will be investigated and at the least the case could be delayed in obtaining the H1B approval. The factors mentioned are:

1) Degree certificates for education from potentially suspect South Indian Universities with mention of Osmania, Nagarjuna and Andhra Universities;

2) Potentially fraudulent work experience letters from suspicious southern Indian computer companies, especially from the Hyderabad and Secunderabad areas;

3) Beneficiary has a degree unrelated to the work she/he will undertake on H1B;

4) Petitioner is a small or start-up operation without sufficient financial ability or business history;

5) Petitioner or its representative is suspected or has a history of submitting fraudulent documents.

The INS memorandum clarifies certain evidentiary issues with respect to cases that are investigated. The issues are as follows:

(a) For degree certificates which are referred for verification, the certification number of the degree certificate must be clearly legible;

(b) Copies of the degree certificates from Andhra University, Gulbarga University and Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University should contain the reverse side of the degree certificate;

(c) Transcripts/Marks sheets need to be submitted for degrees from Bangalore University;

(d) Provisional degree certificates which are more than a year old will not be accepted by the Chennai consulate;

(e) Work experience letters must have legible and verifiable company names, addresses and telephone numbers;

(f) Computer training certificates which are from a non academic institution and which cannot be easily verified as authentic by the Chennai Anti-Fruad unit will not be considered;

(g) Chennai normally will only attempt to verify academic or specialty documentation if it is from South India.

There is no official word on the number of cases affected by this new policy. We have been advised that the Nebraska Service Center alone has referred more than 1,000 cases to the U.S. Consulate in Chennai.

As many of you may have observed, in several cases that were not verified by the INS, the Consulates subject the visa applicant to the verification process at the time that he or she applies for the visa at the Consulate. This would imply that perhaps the State Department and the INS may have different fraud profile indicators or that earlier H1B Petitions were approved by the INS but now after allegations of fraud, both the INS and the consulate are being more cautious prior to issuing approvals. The Law Office of Sheela Murthy believes that there is hopefully a silver lining in the cloud for the H1B visa applicant and the employer in those cases where the H1B Petition took several months longer for an approval. Common sense would dictate that the consular office has undertaken the verification in advance based on the request of the INS prior to issuance of the H1B Petition approval so that delays at the back end in H1B visa issuance at the consulate would most likely be avoided. We certainly hope so!