DHS Inspector General Releases Report on Implementation of L-1 Visa Regulations

On August 9, 2013, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report containing recommendations aimed at improving the L-1 visa program in response to a request from Sen. Charles Grassley for an examination of the potential for fraud or abuse in the program. The L-1 visa program facilitates the temporary transfer of foreign nationals with management, professional, and specialist skills to the United States. For the report, the OIG observed DHS personnel and Department of State consular officials process L-1 petitions and visas. The OIG also interviewed 71 managers and staff in DHS and the Department of State.

The OIG found that although U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services regulations and headquarters memoranda provide guidance on the definition of specialized knowledge, they are insufficient to ensure consistent application of L-1 visa program requirements in processing visas and petitions. More communication between DHS and the Department of State would improve the processing of blanket petitions, the report says. The OIG determined that program effectiveness would be improved and risks reduced with additional effort in (1) training for U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers to enable them to fill their L-1 gatekeeper role at the northern land border more effectively; (2) improving internal controls of the fee collection effort at the northern land border; (3) more rigorous consideration of new office petitions to reduce fraud and abuse; (4) providing an adjudicative tool that is accessible to all federal personnel responsible for L-1 decisions; and (5) consistently applying Visa Reform Act anti-“job-shop” provisions to L-1 petitions.

An appendix notes that the top 10 L-1 employers are Tata Consultancy Services Limited, Cognizant Tech Solutions US Corp, IBM India Private Limited, Wipro Limited, Infosys Technologies Limited, Satyam Computer Services Limited, HCL America Inc., Schlumberger Technology Corp., PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, and Hewlett-Packard Co.