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posted 9 years ago
The H-1B visa program has been coming under attack
lately. Ted Cruz wants a moratorium on H-1B visas by stopping the
program in the hopes that the problem will go away.
Most frauds in the H-1B visa are likely perpetrated by the computer
consulting industry. “Is there fraud in the H-1B program? Yes. But the
way to stop it is not through a moratorium,” said well-respected Houston
immigration attorney, Annie Banerjee.
H-1B is the visa classification given to professional workers to work
in US Companies. Big computer consulting companies, the end user where
employees will work, usually use the vast majority of the H-1B visas
for computer professionals.
The problem? The main issue is the quote of 65,000 visas per year for
H-1Bs and the 20,000 visas for those with US Masters. There were more
than 233,000 petitions filed on the first day in 2015. “How many
petitioners got in? About 85,000 thanks to the random lottery held by
the Citizenship and Immigration Service. Those workers wait at least a
year for their cases to be adjudicated, meaning employers figure out
their worker requirements and apply using projected figures, not actual
figures,” Banerjee explained.
Workers seeking a permanent green card, the result of a successful H-1B application,
often find employers and pay them to enter the lottery, which is
illegal. Additionally, by the time all is said and done, even if the
employer did enter the lottery, the original posted project is already
completed. Once workers succeed in getting to the U.S. their jobs as
computer consultants means they have no place to call home as they are
on the road to various locations to work on whatever project next needs
their skills. Only foreign workers are prepared to labor under those
conditions with long, gruelling hours and not much time to spend with
their families.
“The solution to these various problems is easy, and it is not
shutting the program down and waiting for the issues to go away, a
typical Republican response. With regard to the quota issues, simply do
away with the H-1B quota and let the market determine the need. Reality
is a better predictor of demand rather than an artificial quota,”
Banerjee indicated.
When it comes to verifying the employment of a worker, create a
system whereby the Human Resources director of the end user (the
computer company) has to check and verify the worker’s employment. To
end fraud in the Labor Certification program set up a system where the
end user must verify that the labor certification is a real job that
actually exists in the company. Once the “real job” is verified,
adjudication takes place faster. If the “real job” is a fraud, the
petitioning worker is barred from the H-1B program permanently and the
end user is fined.
“And lastly, do away with control and SIMEIO issues,” added Banerjee.
“Simply put, the government has zero jurisdiction over controlling any
industry in regard to how they hire workers. It is ridiculous to have
the government send out a memo saying that if the petitioner does not
control a worker/employee, then they are not the employer.” The best
solution is a plain and simple email from the end user/employer.
Making things simple is the best way to approach the SIMEIO conundrum
as well. That particular ruling suggested that if an H-1B worker
changes job locations, the employer must file an H-1B petition. By the
time the petition was adjudicated the worker could have already moved
three times. Why waste time on useless paperwork? Instead, spend time
understanding the reality of the needs of the computer technology
industry and work with them, not against them.
“In order to curb fraud, the system should be made simple, hassle
free and fast to keep pace with the for profit industry. Otherwise the
Immigration code may quickly grow into something like the tax code,
complex and filled with loopholes,” said Banerjee.
Learn more at http://www.visatous.com
Law Offices of Annie Banerjee
131 Brooks Street, Suite #300
Sugar Land, Texas 77478
Phone: (281) 242-9139
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