The two US Senators, Grassley and Durbin "� who have been raising questions about H-1B visa abuse by offshore outsourcing vendors "� have now alleged that the offshoring firms are also using the L visas to circumvent the system. | |
| Leading Indian and global information technology firms such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Cognizant Technology Solutions, IBM, Satyam Computer Services and Wipro top the list of L visa users for the financial year 2006-07. |
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| TCS received 4,887 of the L visas in 2006-07. The company, which was also awarded 3,046 H-1B visas last year, was given 5,517 L visas in 2005-06, Durbin and Grassley said. |
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The two Senators said Teaneck, New Jersey-based Cognizant Technology Solutions, which has offshore facilities in India, received 2,226 H-1B visas and 3,520 L visas in FY06. The latter figure was up from 1,888 visas the year before.
| VISA VICE | | Company | H-1B visa
(FY 2006) | L-Visas
(FY 2005) | L-Visas
(FY 2006) | | TCS | 3046 | 5517 | 4887 | | Cognizant | 2226 | 1888 | 3520 | | IBM | 1130 | 614 | 1237 | | Satyam | 2880 | 352 | 950 | | Wipro | 4002 | 1187 | 839 |
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| The debate has cropped up even as a revamped immigration reform Bill is to be presented on the Senate floor this week. The L visas, which include the L-1 and other lesser-known documents, can be used by multinational companies to transfer employees from overseas locations to offices in the US. |
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| They don't have some of the restrictions that H-1B visas do, such as the requirement that workers be paid prevailing wages on par with the salaries of American workers. |
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| Moreover, while H-1B visas are capped at 65,000 a year, there is no annual limit to the number of L visas. The number of such visas issued has increased from 39,886 in 2001 to 53,144 in 2006. |
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| "I would like to know how many American workers these companies hire compared with the number of foreign workers they bring in," said Grassley in a press statement. |
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| "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 H-1B workers. It's clear that the foreign outsourcing firms are abusing the system and we can't let that continue," added Durbin. |
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| Grassley and Durbin said they would continue to investigate the blanket L petition that allows companies to bring in a limitless amount of workers. |
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| Earlier this month, the duo had sent letters to the top-nine foreign-owned companies, including IT biggies such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro and Satyam, to determine the companies' usage of H-1B visas. |
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