Judge sends two to prison for 7 years for H-1B fraud

Post by chrisper » Sun, Jun 05, 2016, 7:40 PM UTC

qxf2 wrote: post #6

I rarely comment but this story makes me happy enough to do so. I'm a former H1-B with an American Masters degree in STEM. I think this conviction will go a long way in making the system fairer. Here is what happened. H1-Bs must be legally employed all (well most of) the time they are in the USA. To get past that rule, these H1-B shops act as employers and then farm out the employees to other companies. Employers nee…

Post by chrisper » Sun, Jun 05, 2016, 7:43 PM UTC

verst wrote: post #12

chrisper wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The OPT as been extended to 24 months now. But sadly, one can't go from OPT to Greencard. I would have to go through H1B, which is stupid. Also, the cap is only an issue because the system is getting abused. Even then, it's stupid to give out the visa through lottery once the cap is reached.

29 months actually - from the typical graduation filing date of April 1 to the H1B validity start date of October 1 two years later. This 17 months extension only applied to STEM majors last time I checked. It was introduced in the spring of 2009 per DHS executive order (memo). EDIT: Apparently the duration was changed recently. See comment below.

Post by chrisper » Sun, Jun 05, 2016, 7:48 PM UTC

verst wrote: post #14

chrisper wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It used to be 17 months. Now it is 24 months. This is a new rule which started this year in March. >On March 11, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security published a final rule allowing certain F-1 students who receive science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees, and who meet other specified requirements, to apply for a 24-month extension of their post-completion OPT. The 24-month extension will…

Thanks! I stand corrected! Does that mean the H1B validity now also starts before October 1? The 17 month extension would have ended October 1 (traditionally the H1B start date). So I am curious what happens if one applies for and is granted the H1B in their third year under OPT.

Post by selectron » Sun, Jun 05, 2016, 9:01 PM UTC

verst wrote: post #7

verst wrote: post #5

This abuse of the H-1B program also hurts the many students attending US universities, hoping to gain work experience here post graduation. Remember that the number of H-1B visas granted every year are capped. Plenty of students from top US universities (and often at the top of their class) cannot accept jobs (or only do so for a very short term under the F-1 OPT program) for which they are the most qualified candida…

This might be interesting to some: The big tech companies in the Bay area may initially hire recent international student graduates on F-1 OPT status and then attempt to apply for their H-1B. If this fails the common approach is to move them to Europe (usually Dublin) to work there for a year. After that time they can return on L-1 (company internal transfer) visas. Note that these candidates are extremely competitiv…

Post by Bahamut » Sun, Jun 05, 2016, 9:18 PM UTC

verst wrote: post #7

verst wrote: post #5

This abuse of the H-1B program also hurts the many students attending US universities, hoping to gain work experience here post graduation. Remember that the number of H-1B visas granted every year are capped. Plenty of students from top US universities (and often at the top of their class) cannot accept jobs (or only do so for a very short term under the F-1 OPT program) for which they are the most qualified candida…

This might be interesting to some: The big tech companies in the Bay area may initially hire recent international student graduates on F-1 OPT status and then attempt to apply for their H-1B. If this fails the common approach is to move them to Europe (usually Dublin) to work there for a year. After that time they can return on L-1 (company internal transfer) visas. Note that these candidates are extremely competitiv…