US H1-B Visa Applications - A Fraud Most Foul
By John Fairheart, for FraudWatchers.ORG
Began 13th August 2007, Published 11th May 2008
Posted to FraudWatchers.ORG 27th July 2008

Introduction

The title does not mean that I am calling US H1-B Visa's a fraud, but I am looking towards certain elements that appear to be abusing the system for their own ends.

It is apparent that there is a confused contingent of surfers, it seems primarily from India, that are being targeted by companies offering H1-B applications. These nationals are being asked to supply exorbitant fees as a form of security for their application.

From posts at FraudWatchers, the staff are unable to get the message across, and on occasion it seems the postings have taken a turn towards antagonism and aggressive argument on both sides of the fence.

The facts have been stated until the FraudWatchers staff have turned blue in the face. Yet some people still believe they are getting good service from companies who skirt ever closer to breaking national and international law.

These companies are allegedly taking monies from their supposed customers and lining their pockets, without having any intention to provide the services for which they are being paid.

The posts at FraudWatchers revolve mainly around the following company names:-

• Accurum Technologies LLC
• CLD & Associates Consulting Inc.
• Optima Resources Inc.

We will get back to the activities of these entities in a little while, but first we will do some background on the H1-B Visa itself, just to make sure we all understand what this subject is actually about.

What is a H1-B Visa?

To answer this we go over to workpermit.com [link] and take a look at their very descriptive definitions in language you can understand.

Basically the H1-B Visa allows an employer to bring in foreign workers to fill positions in so-called "speciality occupations" [link] for a maximum period of 6 years. The initial period of the Visa may be 3 years, which can then be extended for a further 2 years, followed by another year.

There are a large number of requirements [link] that the "application sponsor" (the US company) must satisfy locally to enable an application to be accepted in the first place. Not only this, but the prospective employee must satisfy a number of academic and professional requirements too [link] before ever being eligible to fill out the application. If that was not all, there is a limit on the number of applications that are accepted by the USA, period.

The H1-B Sponsor

Ok, so who is the "application sponsor", and what is their actual role? I was initially confused about this because the phrase "employer" keeps popping up, which does not match the business profile of the companies offering the H1-B's. These companies appear to be types of employment agencies or consultants, which in the UK at least is a different animal entirely.

Surprisingly the answer to the above question is a yes, though the sponsor has to bear the brunt of the various fees imposed by the application platform itself.

H1-B Application Fees

The fees for H1-B applications are quite severe, and this is I think part of the problem, or should I say... abuse.

That's a bill of US$ 690 before the application gets out of the trap and into the running. It gets worse from there on in.

There are more fees depending on how many equivalent full-time employees the petitioner employs (including in any affiliate or subsidiary company). If the petitioner has more than 25, the fee, called USCIS American Competitiveness & Workforce Improvement Act (ACWIA) Fee is US$ 1,500, or US$ 750 if the figure is 25 or less.

Then there is yet another fee for Consular Visa Processing of about US$ 105. Fortunately the Prevailing Wage Determinations and Labour Condition Applications are free of charges. Shucks, that's nice.

Ok, so based on these figures we have a minimum fee of US$ 795, up to an approximate maximum of US$ 2,295

An Optimal Beginning

So what exactly is the problem here? To begin with let us not get confused with another seemingly similar style of fraud perpetrated by West African email scammers. That style of scam is a very primitive cousin to the subject we are talking about here, although ultimately the result is actually the same; Paying in advance for something which was never available in the first place, like a visa. Make no mistake, the West African variant is still one that will catch people out, but is far less convincing than the subject of this posting.

Okay, let's say that an American company makes contact with various foreign nationals, and offers them the opportunity to apply for H1-B Visa. Said company allegedly does it's due diligence on the applicant and then asks for a 'Security Deposit' of hundreds or thousands of US Dollars as part of the application. No cash, no application. What would one say about that?

Worse still is the fact that the American company allegedly refuses point blank to offer any documentation regarding the fee that the applicant is being asked to pay. It will only be discussed over the telephone, never by postal mail, never by email. What about that?

The company, actually more than one, seemingly seek out Asian nationals, with a high focus on India. The companies are offering something that may seem like a dream come true. To move to the USA and to work for a good wage. Unfortunately as the saying goes... "If it sounds too good to be true... it probably is!", especially when the fees involved could very well be everything that the foreign national has, maybe more.

The single and seemingly very simple question from the Kuwait national, who posted the letter on 18th Feb 2007, was "please advise me if this is legal". This question started the ball rolling on what I think is the longest running FraudWatchers case so far. So much of a discussion was being made that the team at FraudWatchers dedicated an entire forum section for it. I referenced the thread from which the above quoted letter comes from, and attempted to find out the demographic of the posters. Thanks to FW Admin who confirms:

From the early posts on the subject it is immediately apparent that there were already rumblings of discontent on various sites across the internet about this company. Aeval, the FraudWatchers Law Enforcement Liaison, made note of this on February 19th, 2007.

Show Me The Money

Entering into March 2007 we begin to see the first evidence of actual requests for money. The 10th sees a poster asking if a previous poster had paid, and states that they [Optima] would ask for US$ 4,400. By the 14th we see an actual acknowledgement that someone was asked for the said amount. The rumblings continue with yet another apparently disgruntled ex-customer of Optima, making an appearance on March 20th and another on the 24th.

From these postings we can see already that there is something going on below the surface that smells of rotten Tuna. The requested fee is huge in comparison to even the most expensive cost of putting forward said application. The phrase I would use to describe the said fee is 'exorbitant' [dictionary]. I personally cannot see how such a huge sum could be justified, though I'm quite sure some clever accounting could show otherwise. We also see that once a party has paid this fee the company [Optima] apparently sit around with a highly unprofessional attitude towards their paying customers.

Another For The Pot

Moving into the end of March 2007 the name of a second company rears its ugly head in the form of "CLD & Associates Consulting Inc". Oddly though, the mailing address of said company is the same as Optima Resources Inc.

When I look at that address I'm thinking maybe it is a mail forwarder or something like a mailbox company. However, considering that the same address is being used by two different companies which are seemingly doing exactly the same H1-B business, I smell a rat!

After some questions from a FraudWatchers staff member, certain confirmations were made about the alleged email proposition. Once again a confirmation of a demand for thousands of US Dollars is seen.

The poster raises a very important point, in that one may be held in an employment contract that would effectively trap you with no legal recourse to escape. This could even be construed as Human Trafficking [wikipedia]. There is mention on WorkPermit.COM about a provision to work at different sites, within the proviso of the H1-B itself, but anything else would no doubt be written into an actual Contract Of Employment.

After some further thoughts and questions from FraudWatchers staff, the poster then comes back with some more financial details that have apparently come from CLD.

As I myself am a Software Engineer in the UK, I can honestly say that when I had 3 years experience my wages were pitifully small compared to that! Even with inflation, exchange rates and over a decade of experience under by belt right now, I would actually be interested in learning more about that job!

The same poster responds to another Support member called Frazzle, who mentions the protection via US Employment Laws.

The poster from India provides some of the cultural perspective needed to understand what is happening to these people. If this Indian national invests what could possibly be his entire savings into getting the Visa, and is successful, what hope does he have if a problem arises later? In short, he would be forced to seek legal advice and potentially even be asked to leave the country. In any case, he would be ruined financially because he would have spent his money, and would now not have a job. Returning to India would carry a huge cultural weight which could possibly see him chastised as a failure and treated more like an outcast by his own family.

FW Admin provides further thoughts and cross-references the company name via a Google search. Despite the linked posting on "Path2USA.COM" being removed, FW Admin's post brings out a synopsis of the content it contained.

Looking closer at this particular company we find an excellent page of information on 419Scam.ORG [link] which makes some comparisons between the CLD & Associates Inc website and others on the internet. It is certainly apparent, based on this analysis that certain pages have been plagiarised [dictionary], which is certainly never a good sign. From a business ethics point of view, CLD & Associates Inc fail at the most basic level.

More Of The Same

As March 2007 finishes and we drift into April, we see CLD & Associates wither into nothing. This may be due to the various noises being made. Likewise we see less talk about Optima Resourses, though the rumblings are still evident.

There is a suggestion to one poster, who claims to have paid US$ 300 to Optima [link], to contact the New Jersey Attorney General and possibly the Better Business Bureau too.

The staff member called Nyla, who presents this posting, makes a very important observation. Unless proof of payment for services is provided, then a complaint holds no water. However, as time goes on it becomes obvious that the perpetrators have no intention of providing that crucial ammunition. Underhanded and dubious are keywords here, and Optima fast become a focus of investigations.

Things go very quiet until almost the end of July 2007 when an unregistered poster from Houston, Texas makes the following observations about Optima Resources.

And Then There Were Three

There is nothing to report until mid way through November 2007, when on the 17th we see the first reports of yet another company seemingly doing exactly the same thing as the previous two. Enter another Indian national and Accurum Technologies LLC.

Readers are pointed to a page on 419Scam.ORG which details their own findings regarding Accurum Technologies LLC.

A month passes by once more and then from 19th November 2007 there is a stream of enquiries about Accurum.

Accurum Resort To Subterfuge

During November and December 2007 FraudWatchers see an increasing amount of activity surrounding Accurum Technologies LLC on the forum. Primarily the questioners are confused and worried about the fees being requested, and rightly so, but some even try to explain about the H1-B (badly).

During these exchanges it becomes apparent that something is not quite right and this is first noted by support member Frazzle on 29th November 2007. Here it is noted that the text of two posts are very similar and appear in different threads. The first post is by an unregistered user calling themselves "javaj2eeguy" on the 24th [link] and the second by another unregistered user called "oracle9i" on the 29th [link]. Both of the posts attempt to explain away the fees being asked for.

On December 3rd 2007 we see more posts from unregistered users saying that Accurum are ok. One from "priya gill" [link] and another from "ajay_kr" [link] some 30 minutes later. FW Admin is quick to note something not being quite right and asks a very simple question.
Later it is also noted by FW Admin that the IP location of one of the other posters called oracle9i, is also from Edison, New Jersey and the home of Accurum Technologies LLC. It is a safe bet that the similar post made by "javaj2eeguy" is also related, as noted by support member Frazzle.

So now we see four seemingly unrelated posts all having an underlying agenda, and one that is probably easiest described as a conspiracy and subterfuge.

Are these the actions of a honest company we ask? Obviously not, they are much more akin to the typical actions of internet scammers who get caught with their fingers in the cookie jar. Not only this but they do not have the intellectual capacity to simply bugger off back under the rock from which they crawled.

Like A Record... It Goes Around And Around

During December 2007 we see mentions again of both CLD and Optima, as well as the continued requests about Accurum. Now each of the three companies are tied together in a neat little bundle, and posters are simply pointed to existing threads to answer queries.

In an attempt to make life easier for everyone some additional information is pulled from the internet. Considering that most questioners are a specific ethnic and demographic group, an article is created which attempts to point people to the US Embassy in New Delhi, India. The article posted on FraudWatchers.ORG is called "Visa Information for Indian Nationals" [link].

One vital piece of information from this is the following.

It carries on through to January 2008 and beyond, in what seems to be a never-ending wash of people asking questions. Many times FW Admin asks for people to send documented evidence of paying fees, or for anyone with a fee request in writing to send it on. Alas, not one single person from the hundreds can be bothered to send the required evidence. Yet, they still demand answers from Support staff who are steadily becoming frustrated.

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