INS Visits to H1B Employers
Posted Jun 15, 2001

In a May 24, 2001 teleconference between attorney representatives of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the Immigration Services Division at INS headquarters, AILA attorneys mentioned that INS officers have visited some H1B worksites to review their files. According to INS, employers are selected at random for these visits, so a visit by an INS officer is not an indication of suspected wrongdoing.

Apparently, these officers are just gathering information for a U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) report on the H1B program, so these visits are not "raids" (what the INS calls "worksite enforcement actions"). However, we at The Law Office of Sheela Murthy would suppose that if egregious violations are found, then the information could be referred to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for investigation. The DOL, not INS, is responsible for enforcement with regard to wages, working conditions, work location and other issues mentioned on the labor condition application (LCA) for H1Bs.

Information being gathered at these site visits includes proof of the company's existence; verification of whether the H1B worker is employed there; and comparison of the actual duties performed with the duties mentioned in the petition.