Indian Tech Company Fined for Visa Abuse
IMMIGRATION INSIGHTS: Infosys, a large multi-national technology services company based in India, has agreed to pay $34 million dollars to settle charges that it mis-used the U.S. visa system in hiring and deploying foreign technology workers in the United States. The New York Times reports that this is the largest ever settlement in a visa fraud case. Infosys denied allegations of visa abuse, but agreed to make the payment, and has revised its visa practices since the case arose.
Technology jobs make up a large part of the foreign workforce applying for employment visas each year, and the total number of visas in this category is currently limited by a quota of 85,000. Large-scale abuse of the employment visas system has undermined efforts to reform the quota and expand opportunities for foreign graduates.