Recently, a U.S. government agency made an announcement that could have implications for companies that hire immigrants on work visas.
The agency in question is the U.S. Department of Labor. Last week, the agency announced that it would be increasing its enforcement efforts related to work visa fraud. Among the things it noted that this would include are ramps-ups in investigations and criminal referrals. Reportedly, these increased efforts will be directed towards all federal work visa programs. This includes programs such as the H-1B, H-2A and H-2B programs.
Work-visa-related investigations and other visa fraud enforcement tactics can be incredibly impactful on businesses. One wonders how much such investigations will increase in the wake of this announcement. One also wonders what this increase will end up meaning for U.S. companies that use work visas to help meet their workforce needs.
The possibility of an environment of increased federal scrutiny of work visas for potential fraud serves as a reminder to businesses of how important it is to do things the right way when seeking to use work visas to fill up job openings. Employment immigration mistakes could lead to a company inadvertently taking actions that could put it under suspicion of work visa fraud. This, in turn, could expose it to the many disruptive things such suspicions can trigger.
Skilled immigration lawyers can advise businesses that use U.S. work visas on the various details of the employment immigration matters that come up in relation to their workforce. They can also assist such companies with avoiding potentially trouble-causing mistakes when addressing such matters.
Source: Reuters, “U.S. Labor Dept to ramp up fraud probes of foreign visa programs,” Sarah N. Lynch, June 6, 2017