The Infosys Settlement: What Was and Could Have Been

In the largest fine ever in an immigration case, on Oct. 31, the U.S. Department of Justice unveiled a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas against Infosys Ltd. Infosys is an India-based multinational provider of business consulting, information technology and outsourcing solutions services, and the complaint alleged that Infosys had engaged in “systemic visa fraud and abuse of immigration processes” when it failed to maintain accurate employment verification records for many of its foreign national employees in the United States; had abused the B-1 business visitor visa program by bringing foreign national employees into the United States to perform work that was not authorized under the classification; and had violated regulations regarding the employment of work-authorized H-1B visa holders. The lawsuit marked the culmination of a two-year investigation by the DOJ into Infosys’ immigration practices, which itself was spurred by a whistleblower lawsuit filed in 2011 by a U.S. citizen employee of Infosys who alleged retaliation for having reported pervasive visa fraud. The same day the DOJ filed its complaint, the parties revealed a settlement agreement in which Infosys agreed to pay $34 million in civil fines to settle the civil immigration claims against it, terminate any criminal charges and end the government’s fraud investigation.

In the settlement, Infosys conceded that it committed civil violations of 8 U.S.C. § 1324a, which prohibits employers from hiring any individual (citizen or noncitizen) for employment in the United States without verifying that individual’s identity and employment authorization status. The form designated for this purpose is the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, which must be completed by U.S. employers for every employee hired subsequent to Nov. 6, 1986. Employers are further obligated to retain the Forms I-9 for a designated period and make them available for inspection by authorized government officials. With the exception of employees who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, employers must re-verify their employees’ continued eligibility to work in the United States prior to the expiration of their employment authorization status.