Infosys (Indian IT Co) says US investigating B1 visa sponsorships

[OhioChick]

25 Jan, 2012

NEW YORK: IT bellwether Infosys on Wednesday said the company and some of its employees are target of US probe related to its sponsorships of B1 business visas.

"... During a recent meeting with the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Texas, the company was advised that the company and certain of its employees are targets of the investigation," Infosys said in a filing to the US regulator Securities and Exchange Commission.

Infosys had received a "subpoena" from a grand jury in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in May last year.

The subpoena requires that Infosys provide to the jury certain documents and records related to the company's sponsorships for, and uses of, B1 business visas, according to the filing.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/ites/infosys-says-us-investigating-b1-visa-sponsorships/articleshow/11630472.cms

[ChromeFoundry]

1. Infosys ... Again. n/t

[LiberalEsto]

2. Tell the investigators to check Fannie Mae

The vast majority of their IT people in Herndon VA are foreigners

[loudsue]

3. More than any other policy, the B1 visas infuriate me.

Losing American jobs INSIDE AMERICA??? That's fucking awful.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

4. B-1 visas

are not employment visas like the H or L or E or O and so on. B visas are expressly for business, used by nationals of countries without a visa waiver agreement and/or when the stay may extend beyond the 90 days allowed by the visa waiver policy.

The nationals coming to the U.S. cannot be engaged in any employment at all - their purposes are very limited to activities such as attending meetings, symposia, speeches, lectures, etc. and must be at the invitation of a U.S. entity which must provide a support letter (also known as invitation letter) wherein the sponsor describes how the foreign national will be supporting him/herself, who will pay for food, lodging, etc., along with an indication that the foreign national will continue to be employed and paid by a foreign entity in his/her country of origin.

Generally, along with the invitation letter one should also submit an itinerary, meeting outline/agenda, or other supporting documentation.

Obviously, since there are very few requirements that can easily be 'manufactured' this visa category is rife for abuse and I'm glad it is finally being investigated.