US bill proposes steep penalties for serious H-1B visa fraud

A Republican lawmaker has introduced a bill in the US House of Representatives seeking substantially higher penalties for serious H-1B visa violations, including fines of up to $250,000 and sponsorship bans of as long as 10 years in cases involving the displacement of American workers.

The H-1B Visa Fraud Crackdown Act, introduced as H.R. 10643 by Texas Representative Beth Van Duyne, seeks to increase penalties for employers found responsible for serious and wilful violations of the H-1B programme.

The legislation is co-sponsored by Republican Representatives Brian Babin, Pat Fallon, Brandon Gill, Keith Self and Pete Sessions, all from Texas.

Under the proposed measure, the maximum civil penalty for covered wilful H-1B violations would rise from $5,000 to $100,000. Van Duyne’s office said such violations could include misrepresenting the job being performed or underpaying an H-1B worker.

For wilful violations involving the displacement of US workers, the maximum civil penalty would increase from $35,000 to $250,000.

The bill would also extend the period during which employers responsible for serious violations could be barred from sponsoring H-1B workers. The minimum ban would increase from two years to five years for serious wilful violations, while cases involving the displacement of US workers would carry a minimum 10-year sponsorship ban.

Separately, the legislation proposes higher penalties for immigration document fraud. Fines for covered violations would increase from the existing range of $250-$2,000 to $1,000-$10,000 per document. Where a violation occurs after a previous order, the proposed penalty would rise from $2,000-$5,000 to $20,000-$50,000 per document.

Van Duyne cited alleged H-1B fraud in North Texas in announcing the legislation. Her office said Homeland Security Secretary Mullin had confirmed that nearly 60 per cent of H-1B employer fraud investigations nationwide were concentrated in the North Texas region as of June.

Her office also said Labor Department Inspector General D’Esposito identified nearly 500 suspected instances of H-1B visa fraud in a single building during an August visit to North Texas. It further claimed that no one answered at addresses where H-1B applications had been approved.

The figures cited by Van Duyne’s office are not part of the text of H.R. 10643.

Van Duyne said the proposed legislation was aimed at ensuring that employers could not treat penalties for H-1B violations as merely a cost of doing business.

The bill is only proposed legislation and is not currently law. It would need to pass both the House and Senate and receive presidential approval before the proposed penalties could take effect.