Infosys coughs up $34 million to settle visa row

Company denies visa fraud claims

India’s second largest software services exporter Infosys on Wednesday has agreed to pay $34 million to resolve all visa allegations with the US authorities.

“Infosys has completed a civil settlement that concludes the investigation by the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas and resolves all issues with the US Department of State, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and the US Department of Homeland Security relating to I-9 paperwork errors and visa matters that were the subject of the investigation,” Infosys said in a statement.

However, the company said that there is no evidence that the I-9 paperwork violations allowed any Infosys employee to work beyond their visa authorisation.

“There were no criminal charges or court rulings against the Company. Furthermore, there are no limitations on the company’s eligibility for federal contracts or access to US visa programs as a result of the settlement.”

Infosys had already taken a reserve of $35 million which included attorney’s fees.
The company also denied and disputed any claims of systemic visa fraud, misuse of visas for competitive advantage, or immigration abuse.

“Those claims are untrue and are assertions that remain unproven.”
Infosys explained that the company's use of B-1 visas was for legitimate business purposes and not in any way intended to circumvent the requirements of the H-1B program and only 0.02 per cent of the days that Infosys employees worked on US projects in 2012 were performed by B-1 visa holders.

“In the settlement agreement, the US government acknowledged that Infosys demonstrates a commitment to compliance with the immigration laws through its current visa and I-9 practices.”