PERM FRAUD CRACKDOWN: US LABOR REGULATOR FREEZES VISA PROCESSING AS PROBES DEEPEN

The US Department of Labor is tightening its grip on suspected employer fraud in the H-1B and PERM visa systems, using administrative suspensions and investigations alongside criminal enforcement to target allegedly false applications, sham recruitment and worker exploitation.

The US Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General has launched an intensified investigation into fraud involving the H-1B and PERM employment visa programmes, putting employers, immigration attorneys and labour brokers under heightened scrutiny.

The OIG said its investigation has uncovered alleged schemes involving fraudulent applications and coercive wage-kickback arrangements, while the agency warned that criminal enforcement would form part of the response.

The enforcement campaign is also moving through the Department of Labor’s administrative machinery.

In May, the department suspended processing of all PERM applications filed by or on behalf of technology company Cloudera for 180 days following allegations that the company had engineered a recruitment process that prevented qualified US workers from applying for certain positions. The department said the suspension could be extended depending on the outcome of a Department of Justice investigation.

The action illustrates an important compliance point: employers do not necessarily have to wait for a criminal conviction before immigration-related consequences begin.

The DOL says it can suspend PERM processing involving employers, attorneys or agents under investigation for possible fraud or willful misrepresentation. Federal regulations also provide for halting processing when a labor-certification application becomes the subject of a criminal indictment or information.

The OIG identifies falsified labor-related visa applications, fraudulent recruitment practices and labour trafficking among its foreign-labor-certification enforcement priorities. Its investigations cover PERM, H-1B, H-2A and H-2B programmes.

For employers, the message is increasingly clear: immigration compliance is becoming an operational control issue, not simply a paperwork exercise.

False recruitment records, inaccurate labour certifications, undisclosed arrangements with brokers and wage manipulation can expose companies to administrative action, civil liability and potentially criminal investigation.

The DOL’s enforcement push therefore puts the integrity of the entire employment-visa chain under scrutiny, from recruitment and certification to worker placement and payroll.