NEWS UPDATE 9/2/2009
Ogletree, Deakins, Nash,
Smoak & Stewart, P.C.
Client Services Department
191 Peachtree Street, N.E.
Suite 4800
Atlanta, GA 30303
Telephone: 404.881.1300
Facsimile: 404.870.1732
clientservices@odnss.com
www.ogletreedeakins.com
Immigration eAuthority
August 2009
In This Issue:
H-1B Employers Get a Visit from USCIS
Traveler Updates
Employer Fines and Arrests: Enforcement News
I-485 Interviews as an Enforcement Tool
H-1B and H-2B Cap Updates
____________________________________________________________________________________
H-1B Employers Get a Visit from USCIS
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has begun a widespread initiative to visit
H-1B petitioner/employer worksites. Using funds collected from the $500 H-1B fraud fee, USCIS hired
outside contractors to conduct these site visits. Reports indicate that USCIS will be making thousands of
such visits in 28 cities over the coming weeks.
The site visit initiative follows last September’s H-1B Benefit Fraud & Compliance Assessment from
USCIS’ Office of Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS), which reported a violation rate of 20.7%
for H-1B petitions in the Assessment’s sampling of 246 H-1B petitions. This included a 13.4% fraud rate
and a 7.3% technical violation rate. The follow-up by USCIS is the next phase of detecting and reducing
H-1B violations. The following FAQ will help familiarize employers with the site visit initiative.
©Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.
May be reproduced with prior permission.