Photo: U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
By Matthew H. Phillips · Updated September 2026
Visa fraud means getting, using or selling a visa or immigration benefit through lies. The lies can be about a person, a job, a marriage or a company. For the employment visa system, fraud is not a rare exception. USCIS's own 2008 H-1B Benefit Fraud and Compliance Assessment reviewed 246 randomly chosen petitions and found fraud in 13.4% of them and technical violations in 7.3%. That is a violation in about one of every five petitions. Newer USCIS numbers are worse. At H-1B extension sites USCIS visited from fiscal 2022 through 2025, 22.39% showed fraud or noncompliance, up from 16.77% in 2018 to 2020, according to a DHS proposed rule published October 14, 2026.
Common schemes in employment visas
Jobs that don't exist. The petition names a real client or position that was never going to hire the worker. The worker is then shopped around to whatever client will pay. In April 2026, two California men pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit visa fraud. They had filed H-1B petitions for University of California jobs that did not exist; one of them was an information officer inside UC who lent the claims credibility. The workers were then marketed to other clients.
Benching. The employer brings workers in, doesn't pay them between projects, and keeps them on the rolls. H-1B rules require wages to be paid during that time.
Underpaying the wage. The LCA promises one wage and the worker gets less, sometimes through kickbacks or "training fees" deducted from pay.
Gaming the lottery. Related or shell companies file many registrations for the same worker to improve their odds. In the FY 2024 season there were 758,994 eligible registrations but only about 446,000 unique people. USCIS responded by investigating, denying and revoking petitions, and making criminal referrals. From FY 2025 it switched to selecting by person rather than by registration. A 2024 Bloomberg News investigation found that about 15,500 visas from the most recent lottery, roughly one in six, went to workers entered multiple times through networks of staffing and outsourcing firms.
Visitor visas used for real work. Workers come in on B-1 business-visitor visas to do jobs that legally require an H-1B. In 2013 Infosys paid $34 million to settle claims that it used B-1 workers this way and coached them to hide the work from consular officers. It was the largest payment in an immigration case at that time, though the company did not admit wrongdoing.
Fake credentials. Forged degrees, bought transcripts and invented work experience, used to qualify for H-1B, EB-2 or EB-3.
Staged PERM recruitment. Job ads for green-card cases are written so that no U.S. applicant qualifies, or qualified applicants are screened out.
Other forms of fraud
Marriage fraud: A marriage entered into to get a green card. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1325(c), it carries up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Under INA § 204(c), a finding of marriage fraud permanently blocks any later petition for that person.
Document fraud: Making, selling or using forged visas, green cards or work permits.
Asylum fraud: Made-up persecution stories, sometimes supplied by preparers who use the same script for many clients.
The penalties
Law
What it covers
Maximum penalty
18 U.S.C. § 1546
Fraud and misuse of visas, permits and other documents
10 years (20 if tied to drug trafficking, 25 if tied to terrorism)
18 U.S.C. § 1001
False statements to federal agencies
5 years
18 U.S.C. § 371
Conspiracy to defraud the United States
5 years
8 U.S.C. § 1325(c)
Marriage fraud
5 years and $250,000
INA § 212(a)(6)(C)(i)
Misrepresentation to get a visa or benefit
Permanent bar on admission, with only narrow waivers
INA § 212(n)(2)(C)
Willful LCA violations by an H-1B employer
Back wages, civil fines, and a bar of 2 years or more from filing petitions
Who investigates
USCIS Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS): Makes site visits to H-1B employers and worksites and refers cases for prosecution.
ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service: Handle criminal investigations of fraud rings and visa fraud at consulates.
Department of Labor: The Wage and Hour Division enforces LCA wage promises. Under "Project Firewall," launched in September 2025, the Labor Secretary can personally approve H-1B investigations without waiting for a worker to complain. About 200 investigations had reportedly been opened by September 2026. The Inspector General's office has also sent dozens of subpoenas in a separate H-1B and PERM fraud investigation.
DOJ Civil Rights Division: Pursues employers that discriminate against U.S. workers in favor of visa holders.
How to report it
If you have firsthand knowledge of visa fraud or of U.S. workers being displaced, report it directly to the agencies:
USCIS tip form: immigration benefit fraud, including H-1B and marriage fraud
