http://www.computerworld.com/home/print.nsf/all/990503h1b


Feds probe for H-1B visa abuse


Problems at a Detroit-area IT services firm spark wider scrutiny of
employers


By Barb Cole-Gomolski


05/03/99 One outsourcer's legal trouble has the government looking more
closely at the practices of IT services firms that hire most of their
workers from overseas, Computerworld has learned.


An ongoing Immigration and Naturalization Service examination of practices
at Quality Information Systems Inc. in Southfield, Mich., has prompted the
agency to increase its scrutiny of information technology services firms
nationally,?a?spokeswoman said. Agency officials declined further comment.
In the Michigan case, the INS alleges that the H-1B applications of 68
workers at QIS contained false information concerning pay and job locations.
Since an INS raid of QIS Dec. 15, the company's president has been indicted
by a federal grand jury for allegedly removing computer equipment from his
office to prevent its seizure, said Ken Chadwell, an assistant U.S. attorney
in Detroit.


In two interviews, QIS President Subhaker "Sam" Surapenini declined to
comment about specific allegations. He said he believes complaints by
disgruntled ex-employees that are intended to discredit him prompted a
government investigation. Last year, the computer industry lobbied hard
and eventually won an extra 140,000 H-1B visas over the next three years
as a partial answer to the IT labor shortage. Those visas allow highly
skilled foreign professionals - including IT workers - to hold jobs in
the U.S. for up to six years. The increase was widely criticized by U.S.
labor groups, which claim that companies favor foreign workers because
they are cheaper than their American counterparts.


Companies alleged to have violated the H-1B visa rules could face fines
or criminal prosecution or could lose the right to apply for visas for a
period of time, according to an INS spokeswoman and immigration
attorneys. The potential, meanwhile, for visa problems to disrupt IT
works in progress justifies asking services firms if their employment
practices face scrutiny, analysts said. Founded in 1994, QIS has more
than 400 employees at 10 offices in the U.S., Canada, Singapore, India
and Great Britain, according to its Web site. The company provides
services and consulting in Internet and enterprise resource planning
systems development and integration. Chadwell, the assistant U.S.
attorney prosecuting the Surapenini case, said the case isn't related to
the quality of QIS's work. "As far as I know, the work done by QIS was
fine," he said. Chadwell said QIS clients face no legal liability
related to the proceeding.


There is another risk IT shops need to consider, however. Mark Cecere,
an analyst at Giga Information Group Inc. in Cambridge, Mass., said the
issue of legality of visas rarely comes up when companies hire
outsourcers that rely on foreign labor. However, he cautioned that
companies that outsource their data centers or other large parts of IT
should consider this issue going forward. "It's less of an issue if the
outsourcer is playing a supplemental role, because if they drop off the
radar, it won't hurt you as much," Cecere added.