The Orlando Sentinel reported today that the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has increased its resources and reorganized anti fraud operations to include an Office of Fraud Detection and National Security in light of the passage of the H-1B Visa Reform Act of 2004, to identify and investigate false claims in connection with green card applications based on marriage, H-1B and L-1 work visas, along with other immigration benefits.
In the last six years, the number of anti-fraud officers nationwide has grown from 100 to 600. Additionally, the number of investigations has gone from a little over 2,600 in 2005 to almost 32,000 last year.
Furthermore, Congress allocated about $95 million last fiscal year, up from approximately $20 million just five years earlier.
Under the terms of the H-1B Visa Reform Act, Congress approved a $500 “fraud fee” in addition to the base fee of $ 320 when submitting H-1B and L-1 visa applications to fund investigative efforts by the USCIS, U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), and the U.S. Department of State (DOS).
Fraudulent applications are an everyday occurrence. The government warns that individuals and businesses submitting these types of applications will be identified, sanctioned, and in some cases prosecuted. Refer to the article for recent case examples investigators have identified.