Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Senator Susan Collins introduced legislation designed to prevent fraud of the current H-1B visa program. The H-1B Visa Fraud Prevention Act would crack down on employers who obtain H-1B visas in one state, but transfer them to an employer in another state.
“Many American businesses rely on the H-1B visa program,” said Senator Collins. “When employers can demonstrate that there are too few U.S. workers to fill particular positions with defined education and skills standards, the H-1B program allows temporary, non-immigrant workers to fill vacancies in engineering, sciences, medicine, health, and other specialties. Unfortunately, there has been a long history of some unscrupulous employers attempting to abuse the H-1B program.”
Senator Collins’ legislation also would remove the numerous restrictions currently in place on Department of Labor’s ability to investigate H-1B visa abuse. Under the bill, the Department would be able to investigate applications that have clear indicators of fraud or misrepresentation, instead of simply checking for completeness and inaccuracies, as the current law provides. Additionally, the bill would eliminate the current provision that requires that the Secretary of Labor approve each individual investigation. Current fines will be doubled, to deter further abuse of the H-1B system.
The bill would also call for the Customs and Immigration Services to work more closely with the Department of Labor to ensure that the H-1B visa system remains strong, and to complete an assessment on the sources of fraud in the H-1B program.
Last fall, the Portland Press Herald printed a three-part series after weeks of investigating H-1B abuses. The newspaper found evidence of shell companies filing applications in Maine, with no evidence of H-1B visa holders working for those businesses in Maine. One company rented office space in Portland and quickly filed over 160 H-1B visa and green card applications on behalf of foreign workers while the office’s mail was forwarded to New Jersey.
“In light of current abuse, this legislation is needed to fill the gaps in our ability to ensure that H-1B visas are granted and used in the manner Congress intended,” noted Senator Collins.
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