U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced that it will begin the full rollout of a long-anticipated worksite inspection program of employers who sponsor foreign workers in L-1 non-immigrant status. Toward the end of 2013, USCIS indicated that it would begin conducting these random, unannounced worksite inspections. This announcement came on the heels of a report issued by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General in August 2013, which analyzed the implementation of the L-1 intracompany transferee program. Specifically, the report considered the L-1 program’s perceived vulnerability to fraud and misuse and recommended a series of measures ostensibly designed to reduce instances of such abuse.
Worksite inspections are only the latest development in over a decade’s worth of criticism of the L-1 non-immigrant visa category and a reflection of a larger trend toward increased scrutiny. Indeed, the government has effectively signaled that it has shifted its focus toward identifying improper use of the L-1 visa, which is a legitimate concern, but at the expense of a program originally intended to facilitate an efficient means of enhancing U.S. competitiveness in the global economy.
