While Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s workplace raids have made headlines in recent months, employers must also be aware of and prepared for employer site visits by the Fraud Detection and National Security Unit of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The Fraud Detection and National Security Unit (FDNS) is expanding its unannounced site visits to employers that sponsor foreign nationals for employment-based visas. Given the high level of public scrutiny surrounding the employment of foreign nationals in the H-1B visa and other visa categories as well as the charges that some employers commit fraud in an attempt to hire foreign workers in these categories, the FDNS recently has hired more staff in order to heighten its investigative efforts.
The Unit’s primary purposes are to verify the existence of the employer, confirm the accuracy of the information the employer has provided in immigration petitions and determine whether the sponsored foreign nationals are employed pursuant to the terms of the petition. In the past, site visits usually pertained to previously approved immigration petitions. However, under the newly expanded program, the agency may also utilize site visits to verify information in pending petitions, and could use information obtained during a site visit to decide whether or not to approve a petition.
