H-1b visa holders targeted by immigration, report says

Immigration authorities are issuing Requests for Evidence for H-1b visas and employment-based immigrant petitions asking for home addresses and physical characteristics to verify a person’s identity. 

Why are immigration officials requesting this information?

What we know:

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services made the Requests for Evidence based on the agency asserting that it has "adverse information" on people.

Requests for Evidence are formal notices issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services when extra documentation or clarification is required to assess a petition. Newsweek noted that the request is not a denial, but a part of the process that lets petitioners address gaps or inconsistencies in their applications. 

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What we don't know:

Forbes reported that it’s unknown if the Trump administration has added employment-based visa applicants to its plans to identify and deport individuals lawfully in the U.S. or if the requests are for another reason. 

According to Newsweek, President Donald Trump supported work-based visas, like the H-1B visa before, but his administration has mainly rejected student visas.

Immigration attorneys receiving Requests for Evidence 

The other side:

Immigration lawyers have received Requests for Evidence referring to "adverse information." The RFEs ask for the beneficiary’s residential address, so USCIS can collect their biometric (physical or behavioral characteristic) information.

Kevin Miner, an attorney for the immigration law firm Fragomen, tells Forbes that the Requests for Evidence don’t follow the process that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services typically follows. 

Miner explained to the news outlet that an information exchange for most employment-based petitions is conducted in writing. The company files a petition and explains why the foreign national qualifies for the H-1b or other work-authorized status that is being requested. 

What is an H-1b visa?

The backstory:

The H-1b visa is a non-immigrant work visa that lets U.S. employers hire foreign workers with particular skills for a specific time. These visas are created for people who are in industries that require a bachelor’s degree or higher. Typically, the jobs are in fields like technology, finance, engineering, and architecture, according to the American Immigration Council. 

Newsweek noted that companies like Amazon, Google, and Meta, secured thousands of these visas. Tesla reportedly brought hundreds of workers to the U.S. through the program. The H-1b visa program has an annual federal cap of 65,000 new visas. But an extra 20,000 petitions are exempt from this limit for people with a U.S. master's degree or higher.