Overview
- The Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General has executed search warrants and issued dozens of subpoenas as part of a nationwide probe into alleged H‑1B and PERM fraud, and its inspector general warned that more suspensions and arrests are coming.
- A Sept. 18 executive order directs Labor, Homeland Security and State to review employer layoffs when judging H‑1B petitions and orders retrospective checks of Labor Condition Applications to detect abuse.
- Visa processing for companies including Cognizant and Cloudera has been suspended while criminal inquiries proceed, and investigators are focusing on large IT service firms, enterprise software companies and staffing intermediaries.
- Field audits have found offices tied to approved H‑1B petitions that appear inactive or shuttered, and the OIG is asking U.S. and foreign workers to report exploitation, benching, kickbacks or fraudulent recruitment.
- The combined criminal and administrative push creates legal uncertainty for employers and foreign workers and could trigger wider rulemaking, company audits, litigation and operational changes across the tech staffing chain over the next year.