Massive Fraud Detected In H-1B Lottery System

US immigration officials have discovered massive fraud behind the rise in H-1B applications for the fiscal year 2024.

According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), some companies committed fraud to artificially increase their chances of winning the visa for their skilled foreign workers. USCIS issues H-1B visas on the basis of a lottery system, and persons filing multiple applications can increase the chance of getting the visa.

The visa fraud was discovered after immigration officials noted a sharp surge in the H-1B visa applications for FY 2024. According to reports, there were 780,884 applications for H-1B visas this year against 483,927 the year before.

USCIS said that in FY 2023 and 2024, it has already undertaken extensive fraud investigations, and denied and revoked petitions.

Modernise The Process

US immigration officials have now promised to bolster the registration process to reduce the chances of one person filing multiple applications.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) stated that:

“The H-1B programme is an essential part of our nation's immigration system and our economy, and the USCIS is committed to implementing the law and helping meet the ever-changing needs of the US labour market.”

“We are working on an upcoming H-1B modernisation rule that will propose, among other improvements, bolstering the H-1B registration process to reduce the possibility of misuse and fraud in the H-1B registration system,”

Each year, up to 85,000 people are selected for H-1B visas which is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.

H-1B visas are issued for three years and can be extended for another three years.

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