USCIS’s Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS) Directorate is expected to begin full-scale implementation of an L-1 site inspection program in the near future. FDNS conducts unannounced administrative site visits regarding approximately 15,000 H-1B petitions each year, and is now expanding to the L-1 program as well. The purpose of site inspections is to verify the information that employers provide in their immigration petitions and to make sure that sponsored workers are complying with the terms of their admission. These unannounced site visits are yet another federal government step toward increasing enforcement of immigration laws.

An L-1 visa is a nonimmigrant visa, which facilitates the transfer of executive, managerial, and key technical personnel of multinational businesses for long-term temporary U.S. assignments for up to seven years for executives/managers and five years for employees with specialized knowledge. To qualify, the U.S. company must have an operating history of a year or more and must have affiliated companies abroad for whom the L visa employee has worked recently.