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GAO report: Department of Labor certifies ‘almost all' of H-1B applications

By the Editorial Staff

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently found that Department of Labor's review of applications to hire H-1B workers lacks quality assurance controls and may overlook some inaccuracies.

In its “Report to Congressional Requesters on the H-1B Visa Program,” GAO said that from January 2002 through September 2005, the Department of Labor “electronically reviewed more than 960,000 applications and certified almost all of them.”

“Our analysis of Labor's data found certified applications with inaccurate information that could have been identified by more stringent checks,” the report said. “Although the overall percentage was small, we found 3,229 applications that were certified even though the wage rate on the application was lower than the prevailing wage for that occupation.”

The report also said that from fiscal year 2000 through fiscal year 2005, the Department of Labor reported an increase in the number of H-1B complaints and violations, and a corresponding increase in the number of employer penalties.

In fiscal year 2000 the Department of Labor required employers to pay back wages totaling $1.2 million to 226 H-1B workers; by fiscal year 2005, back wage penalties had increased to $5.2 million for 604 workers, the report said.

The report said that around one-third of the applications were for workers in computer system analysis and programming occupations, with the next most frequent request, for college and university education workers, at 7 percent. About 30 percent of the positions were located in either California or New York , it said.

The investigation also found 3,229 applications that were certified even though the wage rate on the application was lower than the prevailing wage for that occupation in the specific location.

From fiscal year 2002 through fiscal year 2005, the Department of Labor requested over 50 debarment periods from Homeland Security for employers that committed certain violations— for example, willfully failing to pay an H-1B worker the required wage—that resulted in their being disqualified from participating in the H-1B program for a specified period of time, the GAO report also said. <

The H-1B VISA AND ‘BENCHING'

Congress raised the annual limit on the number of H-1B visas that can be issued to 195,000 a year for the next three years, but critics continue to charge that US employers use the program to hire vulnerable foreigners willing to work for below-prevailing wages. The INS has backlogs of H-1B applications to process and has an outdated computer system that lost count of the H-1Bs issued in 1999, which resulted in an extra 20,000 visas issued by mistake.

There are currently about 420,000 H-1B workers in the US , and half are in computer-related occupations.

Many H-1B workers expect their US employers to sponsor them for immigrant visas. Under past rules, an H-1B worker being sponsored for an immigrant visa by one employer had to begin the application process over again if she switched employers. The new bill allows the new employer to assume sponsorship of the H-1B worker, ending what was called indentured-servant status. Finally, H-1B visa holders with immigration visa applications pending will be able to remain in the US , with year-by-year extensions of their H-1B visas, until their immigration visa applications are approved or rejected.

Congress increased the application fee to $1,000 per H-1B visa from $500 and gave the INS and Labor Department each four percent of the fee, up from the current 1.5 percent, to cover administrative costs. Most US employers pay $60,000 to $90,000 a year for the services of an H-1B worker, or $30 to $45 an hour. H-1Bs who are placed in jobs by middlemen may receive only half of this money; the other half may be retained by the middleman who brought the H-1B into the US and found him a temporary computing job.

One criticism of the increase in the limit to 195,000 is that laws aimed at preventing the abuse of H-1B workers were not strengthened. Some H-1B workers complain that body brokers or middlemen charge them fees to get H-1B visas, force them to sign contracts that require penalty fees if the H-1B worker changes jobs, and sometimes do not pay them promised wages. The H-1B workers do not complain because they want to be sponsored for immigrant visas; DOL can not investigate employers of H-1B workers until it receives a complaint.

One of the most common complaints of H-1B workers involves benching, the term for a middleman who recruits H-1B workers and brings them into the US , but does not have any work for them. Some of the body brokers "shop" their H-1B workers to temporary computer help firms, and these firms, in turn, try to place the H-1B workers with a US employer. Each firm gets a commission, and the H-1B worker may be without earnings for weeks or months. Many wage disputes arise when the H-1B worker is benched, or between jobs- some body shops try to reduce wages when a worker is benched.

Some reports suggest that a few of the body brokers bringing H-1B workers into the US are high-end smugglers whose activities are escaping detection. The INS has only 40 investigators to investigate all types of visa fraud. The US handles applications for about four million visas a year. They are granted by the State Department.

Top H-1B Employers in the US    

The top 200 U.S.-based companies employing foreigners with H-1B work visas:

In comparison, here is a list of the top U.S. employers that have sponsored the maximum number of H-1B employees during the first five months of the 2000 fiscal year that began October 1, 1999.

Rank Company No. of People

• 1 Motorola Inc 618
• 2 Oracle Corp 455
• 3 Cisco Systems Inc 398
• 4 Mastech 389
• 5 Intel Corp 367
• 6 Microsoft Corp 362
• 7 Rapidigm 357
• 8 Syntel Inc 337
• 9 Wipro LTD 327
• 10 Tata Consultancy Serv 320
• 11 PriceWaterhouse Coopers LLP 272
• 12 People Com Consultants Inc 261
• 13 Lucent Technologies 255
• 14 Infosys Technologies LTD 239
• 15 Nortel Networks Inc 234
• 16 Tekedge Corp 219
• 17 Data Conversion 195
• 18 Tata Infotech 185
• 19 Cotelligent USA Inc 183
• 20 Sun Microsystems Inc 182
• 21 Compuware Corp 179
• 22 KPMG LLP 177
• 23 Intelligroup 161
• 24 Hi Tech Consultants Inc 157
• 25 Group Ipex Inc 151
• 26 Ace Technologies Inc 149
• 26 Hewlett Packard Co 149
• 27 Everest Consulting GR 147
• 28 Bell Atlantic Network Serv 141
• 29 Ernst Young LLP 137
• 30 Agilent Technologies Inc 136
• 31 Deloitte Touche LLP 130
• 32 Birlasoft 128
• 32 Global Consultants 128
• 33 IBM 124
• 33 R Systems Inc 124
• 33 Sprint United Mgt 124
• 33 Wireless Facilities 124
• 34 Cognizant Technology Solutions 123
• 34 Satyam Computer Serv 123
• 35 Keane 114
• 36 University of Washington 113
• 37 Analysts Intl Corp 110
• 38 Capital One Serv 109
• 39 Apar Infotech 108
• 39 Modis Inc 108
• 40 L & T Technology LTD 107
• 41 Complete Business Solutions Inc 105
• 42 Techspan 101
• 43 CMOS Soft Inc 100
• 44 Renaissance Worldwide 99
• 45 University of PA 97
• 46 Conexant Systems Inc 96
• 46 I2 Technologies Inc 96
• 47 AT T 93 
• 48 Jean Martin 91
• 49 EMC 90
• 50 Atlantic Duncans Intl 87
• 50 Merrill Lynch 87
• 51 Unique Computing 86
• 52 Computer Intl 85
• 52 Indotronix Intl 85
• 52 Nationwide Insurance 85
• 53 Interim Technology Consulting 84
• 54 Compaq Computer 80
• 55 GE 80
• 56 MSI Majesco Software Inc 80
• 57 Data Core Systems 78
• 58 IT Solutions Inc 77
• 59 Allied Informatics Inc 76
• 60 Ciber Inc 75
• 60 Deloitte Consulting LLC 75
• 60 Goldman Sachs 75
• 61 Baton Rouge Intl 74
• 62 Cyberthink 73
• 62 Stanford University 73
• 63 Cap Gemini America 72
• 63 Infogain Corp 72
• 64 Ajilon Serv   71
• 64 Allsoft Technologies Inc 71
• 64 Morgan Stanley Dean Witter 71
• 65 Ericsson Inc 70
• 65 Harvard University 70
• 65 Sabre Inc 70
• 65 Yash Technologies Inc 70
• 66 Pyramid Consulting Inc 69
• 67 MSX Intl Inc 68
• 68 Softplus Inc 67
• 69 Baylor College Of Medicine 65
• 69 Microstrategy 65
• 69 University of Minnesota 65
• 69 Universal Software 65
• 70 Computer Horizons 64
• 71 Ramco Systems 63
• 71 Siebel Systems Inc 63
• 72 Insight Solutions Inc 62
• 72 Synopsys Inc 62
• 72 Texas Instruments Inc 62
• 73 Infosynergy 61
• 73 Lason Systems Inc 61
• 73 Vanguard GR 61
• 73 Infosynergy 61
• 74 Yale University 61

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