Over the last year, employers have continued to experience unannounced site visits by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Office of Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS), and it is expected that site visits will increase in 2011.  FDNS conducts site inspections to verify the information that employers provide in their immigration petitions. Most recently, site visits have focused on approved H-1B, L-1 and some O-1 petitions. Some employers have reported receiving multiple site visits pertaining to separate petitions and foreign workers.

In this series, we will address questions and inquiries that we have received pertaining to USCIS site visits.  If your company is contacted by an FDNS officer, you should call your designated Immigration Solutions professional immediately to discuss options, including the possibility of having counsel present during a site visit.

1)  Why is USCIS making employer site visits?   Site visits are conducted as part of a Benefits Fraud Assessment (BFA). BFAs are initiatives that review specific immigration programs – such as the H-1B or L-1 program – to determine the incidence of fraud in that particular program. A BFA typically lasts for several months. During this time, USCIS will randomly select a large number of petitions or applications for benefits in the particular category being assessed. These cases are assigned to FDNS officers, who visit the premises of sponsoring employers to verify the existence of the employer, the validity of the information the employer has provided in an immigration petition, and whether sponsored foreign nationals are working in compliance with the terms of their admission to the United States.

In addition to verifying the validity of data contained in an immigration petition, FDNS officers use information collected during site visits to help USCIS develop a fraud detection database. FDNS officers gather information to build profiles of the types of companies that have records of good faith use of immigration programs and records of immigration compliance, and also to identify factors that could indicate fraud. 

2)  Does USCIS give advance notice of a site visit?   Not necessarily. In most cases, officers from the FDNS unit will arrive at the worksite unannounced, though occasionally an officer may call the company to inform it of an impending visit.

3)  Can your attorney be present during the site visit?  You can ask to have counsel present during the site visit, especially because your attorney has submitted a Form G-28 notice of appearance of attorney, confirming that the company has legal representation in connection with each petition it files.  FDNS officers will not typically reschedule a site visit to accommodate the presence of an attorney, but may agree to allow counsel to be present by phone. In the alternative, you may contact your Immigration Solutions with questions during a site visit. If the officer is resistant, you should explain that having the company’s immigration counsel present or available by phone will help the employer respond fully and accurately to the officer’s questions and requests for information.

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As always, we welcome your feedback. If you are interested in becoming an Immigration Solutions client, please call our office at 562 612.3996 and request a consultation. We handle a broad range of business related immigration matters and have an active employer compliance practice and consult on proper I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification) best practices, auditing, training, and work with our clients to develop compliant immigration policies and procedures.  We offer these services, as well, to government contractors and advise on FAR E-Verify enrollment and compliance issues.  Visit our new I-9 Employer Resource center here