The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) denounced finding evidence that dozens of small technology companies have colluded to increase the chances of their potential candidates to obtain a coveted H-1B visa for skilled migrant workers in the federal lottery. of this year.
The federal agency discovered that some companies enter the same applicants multiple times in the lottery to increase their chances of obtaining a visa, according to a complaint in an advance notice to employers by The Wall Street Journal.
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According to USCIS data cited by The Associated Press news agency, this year 780,884 visa applications were submitted to the lottery to achieve one of the 85,000 places approved by Congress, which represents an increase of 61% compared to the 483,927 in 2022. (when 85,000 were also drawn).
The figure for that year was in turn 57% higher than the previous one (308,613).
This growth in the number of applications was paralleled by the increase in applications from candidates who appeared in more than one petition: 408,891 this year, up from 165,180 in 2022 and 90,142 in 2021.
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Heather Prendergast, an immigration attorney in Cleveland who represents a hotel chain and several small businesses, told the newspaper she has filed 32 applications this year, and four have been approved.
Last year she had nine applications out of 30 accepted.
"This is the kind of talent we don't want to lose," he said, "I can't imagine this is the outcome they were hoping for when they designed the system" (visa lottery).
Although it is not technically illegal for a foreign worker to have multiple companies submit visa applications on their behalf, all companies must attest that they have an actual job position for the employee in question if they win a visa.
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If companies that obtain a visa quickly hire an employee with third parties, or fire an employee with a visa so that they can change companies, that could constitute fraud.
The companies have been referred to federal security forces for possible criminal prosecution, an official told the newspaper.
Although some of the duplicate entries may have been chosen in the lottery, which the government launched in late March, federal authorities plan to disqualify applicants if fraud was committed to increase their chances.
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The official quoted by the newspaper affirms that, if a sufficient number of these requests are rejected, it is possible that the Government will organize a second lottery to reach the ceiling of 85,000 visas.
A recent survey of more than 500 HR professionals across industries found that immigration restrictions are sending more jobs, workers, and resources out of the United States.
"86% of companies hired employees from outside the United States for roles they were originally going to perform within the country due to uncertainties related to visas," said researchers at Envoy Global, a global provider of immigration services, and Cint, a digital information and research company, which commissioned the study.
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There is academic research that supports the survey's conclusions.
Britta Glennon, a professor at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, concluded in a recent study that restrictions on H-1B visas are likely to cause more jobs to leave the United States.
"Any policy motivated by concern about the loss of American jobs should take into account that policies aimed at reducing immigration have the unintended consequence of encouraging companies to relocate jobs abroad," Glennon said. .
With information from
The Wall Street Journal
and
Forbes
