Indian IT major Infosys looks set to be slapped with a staggering fine for US visa violations under a settlement with the US Department of Justice, set to be announced on Wednesday.
By disclosing recently that it had set apart $35 million to resolve the visa case, Infosys itself had given an indication of the extent of fine it might be looking at to settle the unsavoury dispute. It all had begun with an American employee, Jack Palmer, suing Infosys in 2011 for retaliation and harassment after he exposed the company’s alleged violation of US immigration laws.
Infosys became the target of a federal investigation over its alleged misuse of short-term B-1 business visas to bring workers from India to work in the US on a long-term basis for which the more cumbersome and expensive H-1B visas are needed. The Indian IT giant had received a subpoena from a grand jury in Eastern District of Texas in 2011 seeking information about its use of the short-term visa.
On Monday, federal prosecutors in Texas said a civil settlement had been reached with Infosys over the charges. The investigation reportedly examined whether Infosys systematically used the short-term visitor visas to bring Indian software workers, deceiving US immigration authorities and undercutting wages for American workers.
The Office of US Attorney John M. Bales for the Eastern District of Texas said the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department would on Wednesday “announce the settlement of systemic visa fraud and immigration abuse allegations with an international corporation”.
The settlement of the case comes at a time when the comprehensive immigration reforms, with major changes to the H-1B visa programme that are seen to target Indian IT firms, are pending before US Congress. The Senate has already passed a tough version of the bill and it remains to be seen how the House of Representatives tackles the whole issue.
Separately, Infosys has settled two whistle-blower cases in Alabama and California in the past 14 months after employees alleged similar misuse of B-1 visas to bring in Indian workers instead of the cap-restricted H-1B visas.