What is H-1B?

H-1B is a guest worker immigration visa law enacted by congress. H-1B allows a maximum 195,000 foreign professionals to enter the US each year. Each foreign professional is permitted to stay in the US for up to six years, ostensibly to meet short-term, high-skill employment needs in the domestic labor market. Robert Reich, Secretary of Labor, said  "In principle, this can be an appropriate purpose, consistent with the overall goals of our employment-based immigration policy. Our experience with the practical operation of the H-1B program has raised serious concerns, however, that what was conceived as a means to meet temporary business needs for unique, highly-skilled professionals from abroad is, in fact, being used by some employers to bring in relatively large numbers of foreign workers who may well be displacing U.S. workers and eroding employers' commitment to the domestic workforce."

If H-1B is Abolished, Won't Companies Just Oursource the Jobs?

The short answer is NO! 

Multi-national corporations often threaten our government with a variation of the lesser of two evils, in orther words, if you don't let us import H-1B workers, we will outsource our work overseas. This threat shouldn't ever get in the way of abolishing H-1B. 

A simple way to see how phony the claim is arises from a parlor game called "Telephone." In this game, one person whispers a phrase to the next participant, who in turn whispers it to another, until the message is relayed back to the originator. Comparing the results is often hilarious. If two people are discussing a core business process, which is what engineering and software programming is, they must be in the same room and see each other. Thus, the process cannot be "offshored." Instead, nonimmigrant visa (NIV) programs such as H-1B are used to bring the employer "fresh (inexpensive) young blood" - mostly from overseas. These NIV programs are "dual intent" so an employer can dangle the prospect of sponsorship for a permanent resident visa and obtain indentured servitude from the NIV holder for many years. This makes many of these NIV programs "stealth immigration" programs.

Who is to Blame for H-1B?

American citizens should be very careful not to blame their troubles on the people that come here on H-1B visas. H-1Bs are not villains or criminals - they are given legal visas by our government. Most of them are told that there is a vast shortage of workers in the U.S. so they don't come here with the intention of taking jobs or causing harm to American workers. 

H-1Bs haven't robbed a single American of his job. They took these jobs legally. The H-1B program was designed by big business to replace American workers with the cheap young blood of nonimmigrant workers. Since our government conspired with big business to give those jobs away you should blame Congresspersons and the Presidents who signed the H-1B Visa bill. Blame our own government because they are the ones that allow H-1B to continue. 

Before anybody starts to blame another country, race, or culture I advise them to look into why the H-1B program has continued for over 19 years. The blame for H-1B lies squarely on the shoulders of the apathetic American public that cares to entertain themselves with mindless sports and video games instead of paying attention to world events and politics. If you voted for a politician that supports H-1B then you better look yourself in a mirror before you blame anybody else. Ask yourself why you allowed the crooks in Washington D.C. to destroy the hopes and aspirations of the American middle class. 

Why are H-1Bs called indentured workers?

Employers have unusual leverage and power over the foreign H1B worker because that  worker can not easily change jobs once they are here. Employers can pay them less, work them harder, and refuse to give them salary increases because they know the H-1B can't leave as easily as a U.S. Citizen in a similar position. If the H1B worker decides to change jobs, they need another employer to sponsor them for the H1B visa, and the big "carrot" for the H1B worker is the promise of a "green card". If they leave the first employer for another one, the green card process which has to start over from scratch. The prize of a green card is used as a carrot by the first employer because they know that the H-1B is taking a huge risk if his visa expires before the green card is approved. This carrot and stick game places the H1B worker in a bad position, making him essentially an indentured servant, docile, submissive and willing to work for less pay.

If an H1B worker leaves his company that company may sue him for liquidated damages. These damages are whatever the company says the project will lose when this employee leaves. The threat of being sued for liquidated damages further indentures the H-1B to his or her employer.

It takes about the 9 -12 Months for an employer's request to cancel an H-1B visa to be processed by the INS. An H-1B worker can apply for transfer of H-1B Visa during this time. The INS sends this request to the employer only and the employer must notify the employee and provide transportation costs (Air tickets) to fly back to native country if needed. 

Webster's New World Dictionary defines indenture - a contract binding a person to work for another person for a given length of time, as an apprentice to a master, or an immigrant to a service.

Does the H-1B Program Protect US Workers?

The short answer is NO!
 "The program does not currently protect U.S. workers’ jobs; instead, it allows aliens to immigrate based on their attachment to a specific job and then shop their services in competition with equally or more qualified U.S. workers without regard to prevailing wage." ^[1]

Do US Workers Get Priority Over H-1Bs?

The short answer is NO! 
"DOL's Permanent Labor Certification Program Does Not Meet Its Intent of Excluding Foreign Workers When Qualified, Willing U.S. Workers Are Available. ... Despite a costly, time-consuming recruitment process, the required labor
market test did not result in the hiring of U.S. workers over foreign labor." ^[1]

Do Labor Market Tests Work?

The short answer is NO! 
Employers used to be required to test the labor market for the availability of able, willing, and qualified U.S. workers at the time of application for a visa and admission to the United States on the alien’s behalf. "Despite a costly, time-consuming recruitment process, the required labor market test did not result in the hiring of U.S. workers over foreign labor." The number of U.S. workers hired as a result of the labor market test was negligible. 

The labor market test is a time-consuming paper shuffle that employers endure to give the
appearance of complying with the law. Regardless of the qualifications of U.S. workers who apply for the job, the employers do not seriously consider them because the employer has already hired, or has full intentions of hiring, the alien. The labor market test was an expensive game employers play to get the certification. ^[1] 

These tests were eliminated as a requirement to hire H-1Bs in the year 2000. Now employers don't have to justify their hiring of H-1Bs and don't have to show whether there is an American that is available for the job. 

Are Job Advertisements Tailored To The H-1B?

The short answer is YES! 
"Employers specifically tailor advertised job requirements to aliens’ qualifications. The jobs’ education and experience requirements were based on the aliens’ qualifications, not
on the skills required to perform the work." Employers tailor the job description and/or special requirements to the aliens’ experience.

The job description and alien’s experience are exact matches in the cases studied. "The alien was already working for the employer at the time the application was filed. " The special requirements identified on the application appear to be customized to fit the alien’s qualifications rather than represent actual job requirements. This appears to be a restrictive criteria to eliminate qualified U.S. workers."^[1]

Are H-1Bs the Best and the Brightest?

The short answer is NO 
"The Labor Condition Application Program is Being Manipulated Beyond Its Intent of Providing Employers the Best and Brightest in the International Labor Market While Protecting the Wage Levels of U.S. Workers." ^[1]

Are Many H-1Bs Exempted From the Yearly Limit?

The short answer is YES

H-1B visas issued per year have a yearly limit commonly called the "visa cap".

H-1B visa holders that apply for an extension of their visas have always been exempt from the yearly limit. As an example of how this works, in the year 2001 there was 195,000 new visas issued that were subject to the visa cap. Since the 2004 cap is 65,000 the total visas that could theoretically be issued can be calculated as follows:

(This enormous number of potential visas doesn't include the exempts described below!)

In the year 2000 President Clinton signed into law several bills which significantly changed the H-1B program. Prominent among these bills was the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act (AC21). This act provided exemptions so that certain types of employers could hire H-1Bs without being counted towards the yearly limit.

There are large numbers of H-1Bs that can work in the United States even if the yearly cap (or quota) is exceeded. Unfortunately our government doesn't track how many are exempted but the loopholes in this law are a substantial portion of the total.

Not counted against the H-1B cap are applications for H-1B visas for employees of higher educational institutions, their related or affiliated nonprofit entities. K-12 schools are not exempted. Other exempt categories include applications for individuals employed by nonprofit research organizations or governmental research organizations, or by any nonprofit entity which engages in clinical training of students at higher educational institutions. Physicians who have received a J-1 Conrad 20 waiver of the two-year home residency requirement and who must work for three years in H status are also exempt from the cap. An H-1B employee who changes from an employer exempt from the H-1B visa cap to a nonexempt employer will be counted towards the cap in the year in which the employee changes to the nonexempt employer. ^[7]

Are US Wages Protected?

The short answer is NO 
Employer's are required to pay H-1Bs the prevailing salary. The problem is defining what the prevailing salary is.  The National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates (SESA) is published by the government to use as a guide to determining prevailing salaries. The employer can choose to use the SESA or they can choose any salary survey they want to, even their own. The DOL said that they don't verify these "Other" surveys so "prevailing salary" is anything the company says it is. To see how this loophole works go to LCA Images.

The OIG reported that prevailing salaries don't protect US wages - "There is no certainty that U.S. workers’ wages are protected by the LCA program’s requirement that employers pay aliens the higher of the prevailing wage or actual wage paid to their employees who are similarly employed." ^[1]

Even if prevailing wages could somehow be enforced, the laws of "supply and demand" dictate that as you bring more workers into the labor market, wages will decrease. This means that the prevailing wage will go down for all workers in that glutted labor market. 

Can H-1Bs File their Own Visa?

The short answer is YES
"Some aliens are themselves the petitioning employer, thereby filing petitions on their own behalf.!" ^[1]

What Are Bodyshops?

Bodyshop is used as a generic label for contract agencies that import nonimmigrant H-1B and L-1 workers into the U.S.  The bodyshop pays the workers and the employer pays the bodyshop. These high-tech "Kelly Girls"are full-time employees of the bodyshop, hired out to clients in the U.S. like Microsoft, Sun Microsystems etc. The bodyshop charges corporate clients an hourly rate and when the project is over the ``bodies'' return to the bodyshop, which places them with the next client.  Bodyshops tend concentrate on high paying white collar jobs such as software programmers or IT, but there are many other types of these agencies for engineers, accountants, school teachers, nurses, welders, construction workers, and even managers.

Most people think of bodyshops as Indian owned companies but that's just because they are the biggest players. Some of them are U.S. owned, such as Manpower, and some are owned by companies in other countries such as the Phillipines.

Bodyshops have a notorious reputation for exploiting their employees and abusing U.S. labor laws. They can get away with violations because the U.S. government doesn't want to rankle foreign owned companies.  As an example, TATA hires almost exclusively upper caste male Indians with an average age of about 25.  TATA flagrantly violates  U.S. laws against discrimination against race, sex, age, and national origin.

Foreign owned bodyshops have a tremendous competitive advantage because they can avoid paying income tax, unemployment insurance, and FICA. Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele explained in the book The Great American Tax Dodge how bodyshops avoid paying taxes:

Labor Condition Applications are filed by the bodyshop, not the company that hires the nonimmigrant. This can cause confusion when people know that a company hires many H-1Bs but they can't find the company listed in the LCA Database. As an example, if the bodyshop TATA supplies 20 H-1Bs to Microsoft, the LCA will say that TATA applied for 20 visas - not Microsoft.

Bodyshoppers are more than willing to come to the United States for salaries that are much lower than what a comparable American would make. That's because salaries in India are about one-tenth that of what they can make in the U.S. Here is what an OIG found:

Do H-1B PostDoc Researchers Have to Work For the University?

The short answer is NO
"Poostdoctoral candidates did research under educational institutions’ research grants. Some aliens received their H-1B visa as the result of petitioning colleges/universities. However, these aliens were not necessarily employees of the schools. They were postdoctoral scholars/fellows/associates doing research under grants. Again, since these aliens were compensated under grants, we are uncertain what control the schools had over
the hiring, firing, supervision, or work. Such arrangements do not appear to be an employer-employee relationship." ^[1]

How can the LCA process be abused?

The DOL (Department of Labor)  has absolutely no way to verify that the take home salary of the H-1B matches what the LCA (Labor Condition Application) states. That is because the DOL hands over the LCA to INS Immigration and Naturalization Service. INS makes an entirely new form called an I-129. The two databases don't talk with each other. That means the DOL doesn't have the capability of using their unique case number to check the status of a particular H-1B visa holder. 

What I'm really saying is that the H-1B could be making more, or much less than what is stated. This salary figure is a "good faith" promise that they will pay that salary. There is no enforcement of the salary because there is no way to verify that the H-1B makes the salary stated on the LCA.

Here is another way that bodyshops can abuse the system. If an LCA says, for example, $50,000, and the bodyshop takes $15,000, the intent of the law is met even though the H-1B makes $35,000. They can say that the H-1B makes $50,000 but agreed to pay $15,000 for headhunting fees. Of course the H-1B probably signed a legal document that made no sense.

One LCA can be used to hire any number of H-1Bs. The employer puts the number of visas on the LCA. Again there is no way for the DOL to know how many H-1B visas are granted once that LCA is handed over to the INS. Conversely, the INS doesn't know how many visas were requested on the LCA because they essentially throw it away once the visa approval process has been started. There is no way to backtrack.

Finally, job titles can be switched at any time. A company could put "engineer" on the LCA, and bring in an H-1B secretary. The DOL will have no way of proving this happened. Of course a high profile abuse such as Reddy Prostitution Case probably got enough investigations going to figure out that Reddy put "programmer" on the LCA but really brought in 10 year old sex slaves. A slightly lesser abuse of the system has very little chance of ever being detected.

I prefer to look at these LCAs as a statement that is used to announce a company's intention to hire H-1Bs and what they expect to pay for a given job title. Our government uses the honor system and has no way to investigate whether anybody a violates their stated intention. A close look at the H-1B Visa Database for companies like Qualcomm is very disturbing because these LCAs represent the best intention (the maximum) that we can expect from American business. The minimum level we have seen so far is sex slavery. The ENFORCEMENT OF H-1B LABOR CONDITION APPLICATIONS describes the DOL enforcement procedure.

How Often Does Fraud in the H-1B Program Occur

The short answer is Very Often
The United States Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (OIG) admitted in the year 2000 that the fraud and abuse continues. This is after a major report in 1996 outlined numerous instances of fraud. Nothing has improved and this is what the report says:

"The OIG continues to identify fraud in the labor certification program, particularly in the H-1B temporary work visa program. These cases involve fraudulent petitions that are filed with DOL on behalf of fictitious companies and corporations; individuals who file petitions using the names of legitimate companies and corporations without their knowledge or permission; and increasing numbers of immigration attorneys and labor brokers who collect fees and file fraudulent applications on behalf of aliens. Based on prior investigative and audit work that found programmatic weaknesses and vulnerabilities in the program, the OIG remains concerned about the potential for increased fraud in this area."

"The OIG continues to identify fraud in the FLC programs, with the majority of cases involving the H-1B temporary work visa program. These cases involve fraudulent petitions that are filed with DOL on behalf of fictitious companies and corporations, individuals who file petitions using the names of legitimate companies and corporations without their knowledge or permission, and an increasing number of immigration attorneys and labor brokers who collect fees and file fraudulent applications on behalf of aliens. During the last six-month period, OIG investigations led to the indictmentand conviction of 12  individuals engaged in this type of fraud. In comparison, the OIG has averaged 14 indictments and 11 convictions per year for labor certification fraud over the prior five-year period." ^[3]

Accusations that H-1B applicants falsify job experience and education were confirmed by Jacquelyn Williams-Bridgers, State Dept. Inspector General, who said that attempts to falsify, alter, or counterfeit U.S. visas or passports and attempting to obtain false documents to obtain visas is a "constant problem both within the U.S. and overseas." ^[4]

William Yates, INS Director, Immigration Services, said INS mainly encounters two types of visa fraud. First, fraud relating to applications or petitions for immigration benefits. Second, document fraud. He admitted that the U.S. is "vulnerable to well-organized fraud schemes." ^[4]

Jill Esposito, State Dept. Post Liaison Division, Visa Office, Bureau of Consular Affairs, backed up Yates' statement that documents are routinely falsified. She said that, although many foreign workers in the U.S. on nonimmigrant visas are here legally and properly, there are "thousands of marginally qualified applicants (who) are also entering the United States in the H-1B and L-1 categories." 

H-1Bs are coming into the country and taking jobs that the visa was clearly not meant for. The H-1B donut shop worker was one of the few that got caught. Ms. Esposito used this as an example and explained, explained that a company that had filed an H-1B petition was actually a donut shop owned by the applicant's relatives. Although the donut shop does exist, Ms. Esposito noted that it was unlikely the shop needed the 23 year-old recent graduate's skills as a "comptroller" to "direct the financial services of the company." 

Ms. Esposito also cited examples of fraud at the American Consulate in Chennai, India, which issued more than 20,000 H-1B visas in Fiscal Year 1998 -- more than any overseas post. She detailed a year-long joint INS and Department of State initiative which found that 45 percent of the 3,247 work experience claims made to the INS were fraudulent. ^[4]

Nancy Sambaiew,Bureau of Consular Affairs, said that individuals from China, India, and Russia are the most frequent violators of nonimmigrant visa laws. Sambaiew also said that nonimmigrant visa categories (particularly H-1B) are attractive options for individuals who wish to enter and remain in the U.S. illegally. She said it is "worth the risk" to violators ^[4]

Can the H-1B and L-1 Visa Programs be Reformed?

The short answer is NO
When President Grant wined and dined Red Cloud of the Oglala Sioux, he presented a map showing how the territory of the Dakotas was going to be rearranged for the benefit of the Sioux. In response, Red Cloud held out his fist, index and middle finger protruding in the white man's "V" for victory sign, only his word was "forked tongue" as in "lies." Native Americans say that the "white man" speaks with "forked tongue" because 400-plus treaties and agreements signed with them were violated by the U.S. government. Since 1990 politicians have supported H-1B increases while at the same time assuring the public that they are going to put more protections into the law. Many politicians that voted against protections write letters to their constituents that claim that American citizens are protected.  The House and the Senate have voted down every proposal to amend H-1B to restrict the ability of corporations to replace American workers. Politicians that promise to reform H-1B to add worker protections are just repeating the tactics they used against Native Americans - and they speak with forked tongue! There is only one way for American citizens to get there jobs back - they must demand that all nonimmigrant work visas be abolished. 

How Well Does the Government Track What H-1Bs are Doing? 

The short answer is THEY DON'T
Most people assume that our government tracks where H-1Bs are, whom they work for, how much money they earn, and other essential facts necessary for running a visa program. During the Immigration Subcommittee Hearing in 1999 Lamar Smith (R-TX) verified that this tracking is not done when he suggested that the INS should develop a system to track the immigration status of individuals on petition-based visas after they enter the country. ^[4]

Our government has lots of data. The problem is that having the raw data" and having electronic access to it are two different issues. INS is deluged with paper; much of the information collected is never entered into their data system. The data that is entered electronically isn't open for public use. Since responsibility for H-1B immigration applications spans the Departments of Labor, State and Justice--whose data systems aren't even linked--no one agency has the complete picture. You've no doubt heard about the accidental issuance of thousands of extra H-1Bs during in 2000. Keeping a running tally in a system that isn't centralized is difficult. ^[5]

Congress has very little incentive for the American public to learn how the labor market is being subverted.

What is a Public Access File?

Employers are required by 20 CFR 655.760 Public access; retention of records  to post all Labor Condition Applications (LCAs) in a public place. Don't expect to find one at work where you can read it. Very few companies post these records where they can be seen. They don't want employees to see this document. Unfortunately the DOL simply doesn't have the manpower to enforce this regulation. You can send a complaint to the DOL if the company won't post the document. The DOL will ask the company to post the LCA if somebody calls up and registers a complaint and the DOL can impose sanctions if the company doesn't comply.

Public Access means that citizens have the right to view the LCAs of any company. You (as a citizen) have the right to request to view the LCAs of any company you wish, and they are required to keep a copy of the LCAs at the location where the H-1B works. They must provide you access or they are in violation of the law. If you are denied access then you should file a complaint with the DOL.

The posting should have the following information:

• Copy of the LCA (form 9035), signed by the employer

• Statement of the current rate of pay for each H-1b worker admitted under the LCA

• Copy of the prevailing wage determination for each area of employment

• Memo explaining how the employer calculated the actual wage (without identifying the H-1b worker or the other workers similarly employed to the H-1b worker for purposes of determining the actual wage.

• A copy of the documents) with which the employer has satisfied the union/employee notification requirements. 

>> Click here for an example

Do Non-Immigrant Workers Pay FICA?

That statement sounds very ironclad doesn't it? Reread the first sentence that says "unless specifically exempt". That's a huge, gaping loophole and unfortunately H-1B is riddled with them. Regulations are always made to the advantage of the H-1B or the employer, never the American worker. 

FICA is handled differently according to the type of nonimmigrant visa issued. The J-1 visa is exempt from FICA withholdings. 

The US has Totalization Agreements with about 17 different countries, under which foreign workers may have their Social Security deductions sent to their home country program (rather than the US SSA) and vice versa. ^[6] The rationale is that a US worker employed in Canada temporarily, for example, shouldn't lose those quarters of employment vis-a-vis our SS system. Their contributions don't end up in the host country's coffer, but the employer is still obliged to pay them. 

The US collects the Totalization taxes for each foreign worker who has asked for totalization benefits and then a massive transfer of funds is made between the two governments. Therefore, although the H-1B pays a tax, they don't contribute any money towards the US social security fund. Whether they pay more or less SS than American workers depends on the policies of their home country and the specifics of the totalization agreement. You can bet that most of the time the taxes are less so that US companies save money.

It would be counterproductive for a worker planning to stay in the US by applying for a green card to request that his/her SS payments be sent home. Because of their lengthy absence, they wouldn't qualify to collect retirement there, or if they did, the amounts collected would probably be smaller than US SS benefits for the same period of time. Those quarters of earnings would be much more valuable paid into the US system to qualify for US SS. Splitting lifetime contributions into two successive pension systems guarantees that neither will pay well, as folks leaving Federal employment at mid-career have discovered.

US policy makers don't realize that expanding the workforce by temporary migration won't bolster our SS program in the same way that a comparable increase in the permanent US workforce would. They've already bargained away a lot of that benefit. Payments coming into the US system (from US workers abroad) aren't likely to match those being remitted to other countries (for foreign temporaries in the US).

Many of the H-1Bs that qualify for totalization will work for 6 years without contributing to the SS system and then get their green cards. Of course then they will expect SS when they retire as US citizens. US workers are really getting the shaft on this one! 

If the migrants were admitted permanently, their payments would go into our SS system, and of course they would become eligible to claim them later in life. But our current immigration strategy is to rely as heavily as possible on temporary migrants, who (although usually required to) have no interest in supporting our SS program. Many, like the Indians, are lobbying for totalization agreements for this very reason-why should they pay such a huge chunk of their income into our system if they'll be sent home after 6 years, and won't have quarters enough to reclaim their deposits?

H-1B and other nonimmigrant worker programs try to create a global workforce in  sovereign states, but the laws  don't work very well and have many problems.

Read "SSR 82-42: TITLE II: INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SECURITY (TOTALIZATION) AGREEMENTS -- DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES" to get more information on how this rip-off of the US tax payer works.

The statement above by Dr. Matloff may be prophetic of what is coming in the future. The Immigrants Support Network is lobbying for a Totalization agreement with India.

Has The H-1B Law Improved Recently?

The short answer is NO 
The Office of Inspector General admits that the H-1B program is rife with fraud and yet the claim that 

"The OIG has averaged 14 indictments and 11 convictions per year for labor certification fraud over the prior five-year period." ^[3]

Conclusion: That doesn't sound like a lot of indictments for a system that is rife with fraud!

When Does the Department of Labor Investigate H-1B Fraud?

The short answer is ALMOST NEVER
Employees of the Department of Labor cannot investigate complaints of fraud unless the Secretary of Labor authorizes it. To obtain an investigation, the Secretary of Labor must be personally involved in the process! ^[2]

The restrictions don't stop there:

• The Secretary must receive the complaint not later than 12 months after the date of the alleged failure.

• "The Secretary shall provide notice to an  employer with respect to whom the Secretary has received information described in clause." This eliminates the possibility of complaining without your employer being notified. H-1Bs would never complain if they intended to stay in the U.S. and American workers might be very fearful of having their employer know that they filed a formal complaint to the DOL.

• "There shall be no judicial review of a determination by the Secretary under this clause." This means that the Secretary has the sole power to make the decision to investigate and the courts cannot intervene.

H-1Bs basically don't ever have to worry about being prosecuted for fraud. Michael Bromwich, Justice Dept. Inspector General,  said that "INS took no action" against aliens who obtained immigration documents by fraudulent means. Mr. Bromwich explained that previously the INS did not have a method of tracking these aliens.  He also said that the agencies still "have a long way to go" in order to make a dent in the fraud that occurs. 

Bromwich explained why the INS is not prosecuting the individuals who commit or are benefitting from nonimmigrant visa fraud, and what he said does not bode well for anybody that expects significant reform. Bromwich said INS focuses its attention on "heavy hitters," criminal enterprises or organizations that systematically fraud the system. He said there are too many individual cases to pursue. ^[4]

Jill Esposito, State Dept. Post Liaison Division, Visa Office, Bureau of Consular Affairs, admitted that they don't have sufficient resources to conduct interviews for INS. Moreover, she said legislation governing these visa categories is "vague" and "open-ended," inviting abuse. ^[4]

Jacquelyn Williams-Bridgers, State Dept. Inspector General, said that it is difficult to determine whether companies seeking H-1B workers are legitimate. She responded it is difficult because there is little direct contact between consular officials and companies. ^[4]

Nancy Sambaiew,Bureau of Consular Affairs, said that it would make sense to more carefully scrutinize individuals from China, India, and Russia, who are the most frequent violators of nonimmigrant visa laws. Somehow her statement didn't sound very assuring. ^[4]

It must be reassuring to any foreigner that wants to falsify documents in order to work as an H-1B that they have nothing to fear. William Yates, INS Director, Immigration Services said that generally speaking, they don't deport those who use fraudulent documents in the H-1B program.  ^[4]

Where Can I Report H-1B Fraud?

If you are a U.S. Citizen that has been denied employment or you have been replaced by and H-1B

Places to Complain 
this page shows  where to complain to the Government

If you are a visa holder and you want to report abuse by your employer

The Special Counsel ONLY considers cases of hiring and firing, not the terms and conditions of employment. The Special Counsel not only considers national origin discrimination, but also discrimination because of one's non-citizenship status. This is an important differentiation. In other words, in national origin discrimination, one is discriminated against because of one's national origin, i.e., hispanic, etc. The EEOC, which considers cases of hiring, firing, and terms and conditons of employment, does not deal with cases of non-citzenship. Therefore, if you are a non-citzen and being denied access to an employer's pension, or being paid less, or not entitled to certain fringe benefits that are given fellow employees, this is not discrimination that would be handled by either the Office of the Special Counsel or the EEOC. I have the correspondence from both offices to prove it.

If you are a third party and want to report fraudulent activities of employers or visa holders

Who is Ingo Pakleppa?

Kevin Keane (aka Ingo Pakleppa) is a wannabe immigration lawyer that gives psuedo-legal advise in newsgroups such as alt.visa.us. On his website he goes by the name Kevin Keane, but on usenet newsgroups he uses the Ingo identity. If he was legitimate why does he go by an alias?

Pakkleppa's advice is nothing more than digital chat. The disclaimer on his site says it all: "I am not a lawyer. I have no legal training. Please, if in doubt, be sure to use the services of a professional lawyer whom you trust." Doubt this guy at all times because he knows just enough to be dangerous! Pakleppa made a web page that contains a rather lame attempt to debate the contents of this website called "ZaZona.com Debunked". Ingo's ranting diatribes are very loose on the facts, uses statements taken out of context, chooses to ignore citations for reference, and illustrates his profound ignorance of the law in regards to nonimmigrant visas. Read his web page but be prepared for a good laugh.

Remember, it's spelled H-1B, not H1B

02/11/10