The H-1B program was created by the Immigration Act of 1990, which amended the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The H-1B visa category was created to enable U.S. employers to hire temporary workers as needed in specialty occupations, or those that require theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge. It also requires a bachelor’s or higher degree (or its equivalent) in the specific occupation as a minimum requirement for entry into the occupation in the United States. The Immigration Act of 1990 capped the number of H-1B visas at 65,000 per fiscal year. Since the creation of the H-1B program, the number of H-1B visas permitted each fiscal year has changed several times. Congress passed the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998 (ACWIA), which increased the limit to 115,000 for fiscal years 1999 and 2000. In 2000, Congress passed the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act, which raised the limit to 195,000 for fiscal year 2001 and maintained that level through fiscal years 2002 and 2003. The number of H-1B visas reverted back to 65,000 thereafter. An H-1B visa generally is valid for 3 years of employment and is renewable for an additional 3 years. Filing an application with Labor’s Employment and Training Administration is the employer’s first step in hiring an H-1B worker, and Labor is responsible for either certifying or denying the employer’s application within 7 days (see app. II for the Labor Condition Application). By law, it may only review applications for omissions and obvious inaccuracies. Labor has no authority to verify the authenticity of the information. Employers must include on the application information such as their name, address, rate of pay and work location for the H-1B worker, and employer identification number. All employers are also required to make four attestations on the application as to: 1. Wages: The employer will pay nonimmigrants at least the local prevailing wage or the employer’s actual wage, whichever is higher, and pay for nonproductive time caused by a decision made by the employer; and offer nonimmigrants benefits on the same basis as U.S. workers. 2. Working conditions: The employment of H-1B nonimmigrants will not adversely affect the working conditions of U.S. workers similarly employed. 3. Strike, lockout, or work stoppage: No strike or lockout exists in the occupational classification at the place of employment. 4. Notification: The employer has notified employees at the place of employment of the intent to employ H-1B workers. Certain employers are required to make three additional attestations on their application. These additional attestations apply to H-1B employers who: (1) are H-1B dependent, that is, generally those whose workforce is comprised of 15 percent or more H-1B nonimmigrant employees; or (2) are found by Labor to have committed either a willful failure to meet H-1B program requirements or misrepresented a material fact in an application during the previous 5 years. These employers are required to additionally attest that: (1) they did not displace a U.S. worker within the period of 90 days before and 90 days after filing a petition for an H-1B worker; (2) they took good faith steps prior to filing the H-1B application to recruit U.S. workers and that they offered the job to a U.S. applicant who was equally or better qualified than an H-1B worker; and (3) prior to placing the H-1B worker with another employer, they inquired and have no knowledge as to that employer’s action or intent to displace a U.S. worker within the 90 days before and 90 days after the placement of the H-1B worker with that employer. After Labor certifies an application, the employer must submit to USCIS an H-1B petition for each worker it wishes to hire (see App. III for the H-1B petition and supplement). On March 1, 2003, Homeland Security took over all functions and authorities of Justice’s Immigration and Naturalization Service under the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and the Homeland Security Reorganization Plan of November 25, 2002. Employers submit to Homeland Security the application, petition, and supporting documentation along with the appropriate fees. When Congress passed ACWIA in 1998, it imposed a filing fee of $500 on H-1B petitions. In 2000, Congress passed legislation to increase the amount of filing fees to $1,000 then increased the amount again to $1,500 in 2004. Along with a $1,500 filing fee, an employer must also submit a $500 fraud prevention and detection fee to Homeland Security. Information on the petition must indicate the wages that will be paid to the H-1B worker, the location of the position and the worker’s qualifications. Through a process known as adjudication, Homeland Security reviews the documents for certain criteria, such as whether the petition is accompanied by a certified application from Labor, whether the employer is eligible to employ an H-1B worker, whether the position is a specialty occupation, and whether the prospective H-1B worker is qualified for the position. The Wage and Hour Division of Labor’s Employment Standards Administration performs investigative and enforcement functions to determine whether an employer has complied with its attestations on the application. An aggrieved individual or entity or certain non-aggrieved parties may file a complaint with Labor that an employer violated a requirement of the H-1B program. To conduct an investigation, the Administrator must have reasonable cause to believe that an employer did not comply with or misrepresented information on its application. Employers who violate any of the attestations on the application may be subject to civil money penalties or administrative remedy, such as paying back wages to H-1B workers or debarment, which disqualifies an employer from participating in the H-1B program for a specified period of time. Employers, the person who filed the complaint, or other interested parties who disagree with the findings of the investigation then have 15 days to appeal by requesting an administrative hearing. The Office of Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) of the Department of Justice also has some enforcement responsibility. Under statutory authority created by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, OSC pursues charges of citizenship discrimination brought by U.S. workers who allege that an employer preferred to hire an H-1B worker. Figure 1 gives an overview of the H-1B visa process. The figure highlights the major steps that an employer takes when hiring an H-1B worker. Figure 2 highlights the process for investigations when a violation has been alleged. Labor’s H-1B authority is limited in scope, but the agency could improve its oversight of employers’ compliance with program requirements. While Labor’s review of employers’ applications to hire H-1B workers is timely, it lacks quality assurance controls and may overlook some inaccuracies, such as applications containing employer identification numbers with invalid prefix codes. Labor’s Wage and Hour Division investigates complaints made against H-1B employers and keeps a database of employers with prior violations. Labor has the authority to conduct random investigations of some of these employers and began doing so in April 2006. Labor uses education as the primary method of promoting compliance with the H-1B program. In addition to conducting compliance assistance programs for employers, it also coordinates with the Department of State to provide H-1B workers with information about their employee rights. Labor has reduced the time it takes to certify employers’ applications by reviewing them electronically and subjecting them to data checks. Labor increased the percentage of applications reviewed within the required seven days from 56 percent in fiscal year 2001 to 100 percent in fiscal year 2005. As of January 2006, all applications must be submitted electronically and Labor’s website informs employers that it will certify or deny applications within minutes based on the information entered. Our analysis of Labor’s data found that of the 960,563 applications that Labor electronically reviewed from January 2002 through September 2005, 99.5 percent were certified, as shown in table 1. Not all applications continue through the process and result in H-1B visas—employers can withdraw their applications, petitions can be denied, or the visa may not be issued. Therefore, Labor officials told us the number of applications submitted represents employers’ interest in the H-1B program rather than the actual number of H-1B visas that are issued. In addition to agreeing to certain attestations on the application, employers must provide information about themselves, such as address and employer identification number, as well as information about each position they are seeking to fill, the time period they will need the worker, the prevailing wage and location for the position, the wage the worker will be paid, and the number of workers they want to hire. On the applications submitted electronically from January 2002 through September 2005, approximately 90 percent of employers requested only one worker even though they are allowed to request multiple workers for the same occupation on an application. Approximately one-third of the applications were for workers in computer system analysis and programming occupations, with the next most frequent request, for college and university education workers, at 7 percent. About 30 percent of the positions were located in either California or New York. See appendix IV for more information on H-1B workers. Labor’s review of the application is limited by law to identifying omissions or obvious inaccuracies. Labor will not certify an application if the employer has failed to check all the necessary boxes or not filled in required information such as wage rate, prevailing wage or period of intended employment. Labor’s system will also deny an application if it contains obvious inaccuracies.