Why is USCIS making employer site visits?
The Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS) unit of USCIS has been making employer site visits for several years. Site visits are used to verify the existence of the employer, the validity of information the employer has provided in immigration petitions, and whether sponsored foreign nationals are working in compliance with the terms of their admission to the United States. Although the FDNS unit has conducted employer site visits for some time, it has recently begun to add more staff and broaden its investigative efforts. In the past, site visits usually pertained to already-approved immigration petitions. However, the agency is more frequently using site visits to verify information pertaining to petitions that are pending. In addition to verifying the validity of data contained in an employer’s immigration petitions, FDNS officers use information collected during site visits to help USCIS develop a fraud detection database. FDNS officers gather information to develop profiles
