Indian nationals contest H-1B visa denial over alleged fraud via lawsuit against US govt

Around 70 Indian nationals are taking legal action against the US government after their visa applications were denied due to alleged fraud committed by their employers. The plaintiffs claim that they were unaware of the wrongdoings of their employers and are being treated unjustly due to their association.

According to the complaint lodged by the Indian plaintiffs, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) declined to grant H-1B specialty occupation visas to these workers, despite their subsequent lawful employment with legitimate enterprises. The plaintiffs argue that the agency presumed their guilt by association with these businesses, even though they were not directly involved in the alleged fraudulent actions, Bloomberg reported.

As per court documents, the plaintiffs in this case were employed by four IT staffing firms: Andwill Technologies, AzTech Technologies LLC, Integra Technologies LLC, and WireClass Technologies LLC. These firms were allegedly involved in fraud where they fabricated letters of employment and payroll records to help people stay in the US.

The lawsuit by the Indian plaintiffs alleges that the DHS assumed that all the individuals working at the above-mentioned four companies were involved in the fraud due to their association with the company.

Moreover, some of the plaintiffs claim that they were denied visa even after they ended their employment at the companies where the alleged fraud took place. Siddhartha Kalavala, one of the plaintiffs in the case, noted that he moved to another company after working for a few months at Integra, one of the companies involved in the fraud. But Kalavala was still denied a visa due to his past association with the company.

The lawsuit claims that there are several others like Kavala who were denied H-1B visas and were forced to leave the US.

It is worth noting that the Bloomberg report highlighted that the DHS has not issued a response to the lawsuit by the Indian nationals.