Tech Companies Are Colluding to Cheat H-1B Visa Lottery

[jgo]

Source: Wall Street Journal

The Biden administration says it has found evidence that several dozen small technology companies have colluded to increase the chances that their prospective foreign hires will win a coveted H-1B visa for skilled foreign workers in this year’s lottery.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency that awards H-1B visas, said it has found that a small number of companies are responsible for entering the same applicants into the lottery multiple times, with the alleged goal of artificially boosting their chances of winning a visa. The findings were laid out in a notice to employers viewed by The Wall Street Journal and set to be released Friday.

That practice, according to the agency, is in large part responsible for inflating demand for the visas to a record high this year, with 781,000 entries into the lottery for 85,000 visa slots.

Though it isn’t technically illegal for a foreign worker to have multiple companies submit visa applications on their behalf, companies submitting applications must attest that they have a real job for the employee in question if they win a visa. If companies that win a visa then quickly contract an employee out to third parties, or lay off an employee on the visa so he or she can switch companies, that could potentially amount to fraud.

Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-says-some-companies-cheat-h-1b-lottery-driving-record-applications-1a3e4fd

[sybylla]

1. Of course they did.

And the fines for fraud might actually be higher than those for treating and H1-B worker like a slave.

[mpcamb]

2. That's a huge risk for spying. Make the penalties and fines HUGE!

[Wonder Why]

8. No. Hold the signer of the document personally liable for lying on an official document and

have penalties that include jail time. Then negotiate with them for leniency if they can show their managers approved of the falsehood, working your way up to the top..

Fining companies is a waste of time. Threatening prison works a lot better.

"I am signing this document knowing that falsehoods will subject me to 12 months in federal prison and a personal fine of up to $10,000 for each false document" or some such legalese.

[tonekat]

3. The U.S. is more like Mad Max everyday

"Who control Bartertown?"

"Corporations control Bartertown!"

[milestogo]

4. Pretty soon we'll all be replaced with AI.

[IronLionZion]

5. Nobody wants to work anymore

has now switched to they're stealing our jobs.

[NullTuples]

6. "though it isn't technically illegal" "could potentially amount to fraud"

This feels like the "rules and traditions" that are expected to govern the behavior of Congress.

Sometimes I like to imagine what America could be like if we put real industry regulation in place. The sort managed by agencies with teeth and a clear mandate. The sort of restrictions that put people first instead of profits.

[Phoenix61]

7. It's a ridiculous way to run a visa system and leaves the

worker vulnerable to exploitation. The worker should own the visa not the employer.