Judge sends two to prison for 7 years for H-1B fraud
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Judge sends two to prison for 7 years for H-1B fraud
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Re: Judge sends two to prison for 7 years for H-1B fraud
#2Now can Disney go to jail for the same in conspiracy with the outsourcing company to replace employed tech workers with cheaper H1Bs when that's not what the visa program is about?
Re: Judge sends two to prison for 7 years for H-1B fraud
#3Another 50 convictions like this and the H1-B problem will be over.
If your employer is considering replacing you with an H1-B, give them a copy of this article.
Re: Judge sends two to prison for 7 years for H-1B fraud
#4Another 50 convictions like this and the H1-B problem will be over. If your employer is considering replacing you with an H1-B, give them a copy of this article.
It'll just encourage companies to stick with the big body shops that can manage the legal risk.
Re: Judge sends two to prison for 7 years for H-1B fraud
#5This 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 candidate because they cannot attain the right to work.
Re: Judge sends two to prison for 7 years for H-1B fraud
#6I 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 need to pay H1-Bs at least the prevailing wage that is mentioned in their H1-B application. This employer did not. Instead, they reduced wages when the employees were on the bench. That is the violation that they have been convicted for. So this conviction is not that much about H1-B's replacing American workers as much as it is about an unethical employer paying his employees less than the promised wage.
Usually, people who join this kind of shop are people who have not been able to land a direct employer on their own and desperately want to stay in the USA. This judgment will go a long way in correcting the system because now all shops (and there are many!) that run this scam will close down. That, in turn, will decrease the number of people who end up applying for H1-Bs without a real employer. Hopefully, that will improve the perception around genuine H1-B VISA holders.
Re: Judge sends two to prison for 7 years for H-1B fraud
#7This 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 competitive in terms of performance, don't replace anyone, and are paid the same kind of salaries as any other highly qualified individuals.
Re: Judge sends two to prison for 7 years for H-1B fraud
#8I 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…
Exactly! Thanks for this insightful comment.
Re: Judge sends two to prison for 7 years for H-1B fraud
#9This 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…
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.
Re: Judge sends two to prison for 7 years for H-1B fraud
#10I had a friend at HP - who worked in a group arranging for "tourists" to staff HP projects. It was a "secret" group offsite from HQ and they got lists of major development projects. Then they worked with recruiters worldwide to find staff. They would arrange cars at the airport, long term hotels, and rotated teams in and out of the country to keep the project going. They did this for years and years.
We need some real laws with real enforcement. Right now, there are too many ways to evade the H1B program. My understanding it that most foreign workers aren't using that program - and that other programs were specifically set up with minimal monitoring in order to provide a way to get around the H1B program. So the numbers of foreign workers being reported is a complete fiction.