Grassley, Durbin Release New Information on L Visas

Press Release

The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services responded to Senators Grassley and Durbin today and provided information that shows many foreign outsourcing firms that send American jobs overseas are using L visas in large numbers.

The information provided today showed that many of the same companies identified as using the most H-1B visas were the same companies that used the most L visas. Under current law, employers can use the L visa program to evade restrictions on the H-1B program because it does not include protections for American workers. This demonstrates the need for additional checks on the L visa program.

"This information certainly makes one wonder if companies are using the L visa to circumvent the worker protections required under the H-1B program. I'd like to know how many American workers these companies hire compared to the number of foreign workers they bring in," Grassley said. "American workers deserve the best chance at jobs in this country, and this data makes one question if they are too often overlooked."

"The L visa is designed to give multinational companies the freedom to transfer managers and specialists within the company to their U.S. offices," said Durbin. "But some of these companies have hundreds, and in some cases thousands of L visa workers. I find it hard to believe that any one company has that many individuals that are legitimately being transferred within a single year. I find it even harder to believe that these L visas are being used appropriately when many of the same companies are some of the largest employers of H1-B workers. It's clear that foreign outsourcing firms are abusing the system and we can't let that continue."

Grassley and Durbin said they would continue to investigate the blanket L petition that allows companies to bring in a limitless amount of workers. The Senators expressed concern in their original letter to the Director of Citizenship and Immigration Service about the screening of individuals through this process.

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