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USCIS Issued NOID, Revocation Notices for H1B Multiple Registrations Fraud

As most of you know H1B Visa is one of the most sought temporary work visas and there was a tremendous amount of demand for fiscal year(FY) 2023 with 484K H1B Registrations submitted and even more for FY 2024 a crazy 781K registrations. As with everything else in life, not everyone plays a fair game and there are few who try to take shortcuts. In the context of H1B Visa Registrations, some might have filed multiple H1B registrations with the intent to increase their chances in H1B Visa Lottery.

USCIS continues to take action on those individuals and companies, who committed fraud by filing multiple registrations to increase their chances in the H1B Lottery. They issued Notice of Intent to Deny(NOID) and H1B revocation notices for such petitions. This was first reported by Law Offices of Thomas V Allen back in 2022 and later more shared by attorneys, users in 2023.

In this article, we will review what it means, look at the NOID copies, revocation notices issued by USCIS and share what to expect. We will keep this article updated as more attorneys share similar information or we see more on social media.

Before we go to the actual issue, let’s look at the actual rule and, what is not allowed, what USCIS can do, if they find fraud.

Background: Are Multiple H1B Registrations Allowed? What is Considered Fraud?

As a baseline for everyone, filing multiple H1B Registrations through unrelated employers is technically allowed. The biggest catch is, these companies have to be genuine and the job offers have to be genuine as well. Usually, this is where IT Bodyshops try to take advantage of this rule and try to file multiple registrations without genuine intent or a genuine job offer.

For example, you have an offer from Google and another offer from Microsoft. Now both of these companies can file H1B registrations for you. This is considered legal and perfectly fine. But, let’s say two IT Body shop companies try to file for the same job by their subsidiaries or different companies, etc. without really having a genuine offer, then they are in trouble. The NOID is issued in such cases.

You can read complete details about H1B Duplicate Filings, what are the various scenarios, where we have illustrations explaining the same.

What can USCIS do, if they find Fraud with Duplicate Registrations?

As per USCIS’s H1B Registration info page, if multiple H1B registrations were filed for the same applicant to increase their chances of H1B lottery selection by a company or they worked with another company for the same, then they will consider that the registration was not properly submitted. As it was not considered as properly submitted they may deny, or revoke the H1B petition filed as it had false attestation.

They added this extra attestation during the submission process to hold the employers accountable. Essentially, when someone submits, they are signing under oath that they are not filing any duplicate registrations to unfairly increase the chances of H1B lottery selection for an applicant. See the below screenshot of the exact guidance from the USCIS website.

USCIS Guidance on filing multiple H1B registrations to increase chances of H1B Lottery Selection unfairly
USCIS Guidance on filing multiple H1B registrations to increase chances of H1B Lottery Selection unfairly

Now that we have some background, let’s dive into the details of the current NOID issued by USCIS

USCIS issued a Notice of Intent to Deny(NOID) for a petition, where they found out that the companies are related by common ownership such as family relationships, registrations done by the same agent, etc. They even gave details of the websites and how they were able to establish that common link.

As per the NOID, the person filed four H1B Registrations and two were selected in the H1B Lottery. This is a clear case for identifying fraud. The exact wording by USCIS in the NOID is as below:

“Based on the USCIS records, USCIS Concluded that the petitioner made a false attestation when registering beneficiary for the FY23 H1-1B Cap Lottery and made an improper registration based on USCIS collusion research. It appears the petitioner worked with another registrant, petitioner, agent, or other individual entity to submit multiple registrations to unfairly increase the chances of selection for the beneficiary. USCIS records indicate the beneficiary has a conformation number for four separate registration with two being selected

USCIS reviewed the petition, the registration data, and additional resources and determined that the petitioner has colluded with another company during the registration process to unfairly increase the chances of selection. The petitioner XXXX shares the same registered agents/ executives and/or has a familial link to the registered agents/executives with the following organization XXXX. USCIS found XXX and the petitioner are linked companies as indicated by open-source information XXXX, the website for XXX….”

Below is the actual copy of the NOID issued by them. This is shared by the Law Offices of Thomas V Allen. Thanks to them for sharing it!

H1B Notice of Intent to Deny for Multiple Registrations filing FY 2023
H1B Notice of Intent to Deny for Multiple Registrations filing FY 2023

NOID for filing H1B Registrations with Unrelated Companies: Same Attorney, Letters

USCIS has also issued NOID for situations where the applicants/ companies were trying to outsmart USCIS by colluding with other companies and filing H1B registration with unrelated companies.

In this case, they say that these companies used the same attorneys, used boilerplate support letters, contracts, related financial transactions, shared employees, etc with about 132 overlapping H1B registrations filed by them. Below is the exact wording.

“USCIS reviewed the petition, the registration data, and additional resources and has determined that the petitioner has colluded with another company during the registration process to unfairly increase chances of selection. The beneficiary, XXX was registered for the FY 2023 CAP by petitioner XXX. The petitioner, XXX, shares the same registered agents/ executives and/or has a familial link to the registered agents/executives within the organization. The companies were related through financial transactions, contracts, G-28 attorneys, boilerplate support letters, and shared employees. They also made 132 overlapping H-1B Registrations, including the registrations for the beneficiary. Based, on the aforementioned companies you have not provided enough evidence to demonstrate that you have a valid offer of employment.

Based on USCIS records, fraud/misrepresentation was found in XXX. The petitioner made a false attestation when registering the beneficiary for the Fy 23 H-1B Cap Lottery and made an improper registration. “

Below is the actual copy of the NOID issued by them. This is also shared by the Law Offices of Thomas V Allen.

H1B NOID for duplicate registrations fraud based on common contracts, attorneys, letters, etc.
H1B NOID for duplicate H1B registrations fraud based on common contracts, attorneys, letters, etc.

H1B Revocation Notice Issued by USCIS for Fraud

Similar to the above, H1B Revoke documents were distributed in the Social Media groups and messages in May 2023 for the fraud committed by some users during the H1B FY 2023 season.

This is not a NOID, but rather a H1B Revocation Notice issued by USCIS based on the below reasons

  • Three related companies
  • Common shared registrations
  • Common Ownership of companies
  • Familial relationship of owners
  • False attestation under penalty of perjury

The highlighted text in the below screenshot clearly indicates the USCIS rationable for revoking how they established the fraud and collusion. Check the original source of the below posted on Facebook Post

USCIS Revoke issued for Multiple H1B Registrations Fraud

NOIDs issued for Multiple Registrations: Shared by Users

Many users have shared that they have received a NOID letter in relation to the submission of multiple H1B registrations during the H1B FY 2024 and FY 2023 Seasons. Some of them claim that they were not aware and the employer submitted multiple registrations on their behalf, without their knowledge.

Usually we see these kinds of issue when you go with IT Body shops who are trying to take advantage of the system and do fraud. Below are the screenshots of NOID related experiences shared by users in our H1B Visa Facebook Community

NOID Letters Experiences by Users for Multiple H1B Registrations with USCIS
NOID Letters Experiences by Users for Multiple H1B Registrations with USCIS

What’s the Impact of the NOID: Fraud/ Misrepresentation

If someone filed multiple H1B registrations and got one of the above or similar NOID letters, they have one last chance to prove that the registrations were filed properly. If they cannot prove the same, their H1B petition is not counted and fees are lost and the employer will be taken action for fraud/ misrepresentation.

Willful misrepresentation is a big thing and someone can be barred from entering the US. It falls under INA 212(A)(6)(C)(I). You can read the full info at the State Department website. See the below screenshot. Also, federal agencies will look at these companies and review their actions. These are just early stages and we are yet to wait and see what USCIS will do for such employers.

MISREPRESENTATION - INA 212(A)(6)(C)(I)
MISREPRESENTATION – INA 212(A)(6)(C)(I)

Also, these are just the beginning of the NOIDs shared publicly by Thomas V Allen Lawfirm. We will update this page as we have more info.

These investigations by USCIS will have a big impact on how many H1B petitions will be filed in the H1B FY 2025 season for those who were selected in the lottery.

What do you think of the USCIS cracking down on multiple H1B registrations? Share your thoughts in the comments section below

   

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49 Comments

  1. According to U.S Code Title 28, for the agency to require an attestation under penalty of perjury, the subject matter that is being attested must be to establish a matter that is required under any law of the U.S., or any rule, regulation, order, or requirement made pursuant to law. But there is no regulation that prohibits multiple registration and on the contrary the original regulation allows multiple registration by different employers. In the absence of any law or regulation or even a memorandum, the USCISs implementation of attestation is flawed. Any US attorney would hesitate to take this matter up for criminal prosecution.

    Prohibiting multiple registration requires rule making. The existing regulations do support multiple registrations. The Matter of S-Inc, which was adopted by the USCIS and the 8 CFR 214.2(H)(2)(1)(G) clearly states that related companies can file multiple H-1Bs for the same beneficiary if there is a legitimate business need. If the regulations and the USCIS policies permit multiple H-1B filing, with the prohibition on multiple registration, how would related employers file multiple registrations if there is a legitimate business need.

    https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/1746

    https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/memos/2018-3-23-PM-602-0159-Matter-of-S-Inc-Adopted-Decision-Package.pdf

    Reply
    • Anand,
      There is nothing prohibiting in the law from filing multiple registrations, if they are genuine like applications from companies like Google, Microsoft or Meta. Many try to game the system by fraudulently filing them without having a job offer or having only one offer for all of those..That’s the reason they are issuing these NOIDs.

      Reply
      • Any US guys will officially accept several offers (for example, from Google, Microsoft, Meta), then wait for H1B and decline all except one?

        I have friend have three full-time offer/position H1B registrations (while she is in one the the top three you mentioned), then she failed for all three. Then she went to contract and got H1B approved for one contractor position (still one of the top three companies you mentioned).

        Reply
      • “Any US guys will officially accept several offers (for example, from Google, Microsoft, Meta), then wait for H1B and decline all except one?”

        This is already insane and crazy for common sense. You will be banned by top companies (due to reneging offers). Who want to do this?

        Reply
        • Anand,
          There is nothing called ban anywhere, you just need some time off before you can apply. What good are your offers or bans, if you cannot work legally in the US? Think about it. It is not uncommon, I have seen many genuine candidates over the years do the exact thing…

          Reply
  2. Thomas Vinu Allen

    Approval of H-1B where NOID was issued on multiple H-1B CAP registration alleging fraud and misrepresentation.

    Our office represented an employer who received a NOID alleging fraud and misrepresentation on multiple registration issues. USCIS identified overlapping registrations for the beneficiary along with other candidates with another company.

    Among other things, our office challenged the USCIS authority to impose an attestation requirement that is not supported by any immigration law or regulation. We addressed the issue by pointing out the existing rules that permit multiple registrations by unrelated companies.

    Remarkably, within a month of submitting our response to the NOID, the USCIS granted approval for the H-1B case. This outcome demonstrates the success of our argument and our conviction that USCIS erred in implementing the new attestation requirement restricting multiple CAP registration.

    Hope USCIS will follow the proper rule-making process to restrict multiple registrations for the next fiscal year.
    =======
    In addition, FY2022, FY2023 have two consecutive 60% boost:
    (1) stoph1babuse lawsuit was concluded as failure in Feb. 2022;
    (2) Several rounds of H1b lottery in FY2022, FY2021 confused candidates;
    (3) USCIS did not act anything before June 2022;
    (4) USCIS did not provide any info regarding multiple H1B registrations before end of April 2023.

    Reply
    • Thomas, I am AILA immigration attorney in Utah, and need to respond to a similar NOIR involving the revocation of an H-1B issued to a prior employer. The USCIS is now trying to revoke the H-1B of the my client the present employer (following an H-1B transfer two years ago), even though the new employer and the FN knew nothing of the actions of the prior employer. Would you be willing to share your response to the NOIR you mentioned as a starting point for my own? thank you very much.

      Lewis Francis

      Reply
  3. USCIS design this corrupted system gaming us, the working-hard.

    Will US guys (not tricked by this system) feel interesting to officially sign offers from Google, MSFT, FB and then due to H1B lottery, only accept at most one but reneging other offers after accepting them due to H1B lottery?

    US guys feel comfortable playing with official offers (each of them can be obtained actually by tremendous heart and soul)?

    Reply
  4. Hi. This is a case where i am currently working in India and filled multiple unrelated h1b’s – but got picked only one – I think even this case has an issue right? Should we file the petition or not for 2024 h1b as July 30 2023 is the deadline. Should we proceed?

    Reply
    • Excited to see what you’ve decided and went ahead with.
      1. If the companies are unrelated, meaning you are such a talented person that multiple unrelated companies all wanted to apply H1B for you, without you making some kind of deal with them to apply for you, then you should absolutely have no issues. You will be able to prove that pretty easily, and USCIS won’t even flag it in the first place.
      2. But #1 is hardly the common case. In most cases, they are all related in the backend through financials and would have done this previously for many years for many candidates, in which case, it is a sure shot NOID as it should be. And if you went ahead knowingly and lied under oath, you just have to hope they don’t refer you individually for further investigation. In which case, you can kiss your H1B dreams a goodbye.

      Reply
  5. Hi,
    I was working with Company A during my OPT period. However, I never really wanted Company A to file H-1B registration and when their immigration team reached out to me asking for details so they could register for H-1B, I made an excuse and never responded (I have the supporting email with me to prove this).
    I reached out to Company B and had the same job flow through the implementation partner and Company B filed for my H1B registration and it got picked.
    Now, I’m unsure if the Company A really did file for H-1B registration as not a lot of details are required to do the registration.(Again, I never approved of this)
    Can someone help with what I can do next?
    Thank you!

    Reply
  6. I applied for H1B with multiple employers in 2022, and two applications were picked up. I chose to proceed with XYZ, but they told me it was returned. This year, another employer picked up my application but found my previous application with XYZ still pending. I discovered that last year, XYZ filed my application with their sister companies without my knowledge. I asked to withdraw my application and am worried about the consequences.

    last year’s H1b case status shows
    “we began reviewing your Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, Receipt Number ************. We mailed you a notice informing you of the action we intend to take on your case. Please follow the instructions in the notice and submit any requested materials”

    Reply
  7. I appeared for an interview ,
    The visa Officer provided me with a 221G form, stating that there is a HIT by USCIS on my H1B and asked me to work with USCIS to get the remark removed and she also mentioned that USICIS revoked my H1B. When I looked up my most recent H1B with my current employer in the USCIS portal it still appears to be approved.

    Background:

    I started working with company A (Non profit) from march 2019 on OPT. They filed my non-profit H1B in Dec 2021 and which was approved in Jan 2022.

    Another company B also filed my H1B via lottery for fiscal year 2022 and it was approved on april 2022 but I did not move forward with them and was never on their payroll.

    In April 2022, 3 employers entered my application in the H1B lottery system (for the fiscal year 2023) out of which only 1 got picked and approved. I resigned A (Non-profit) on Oct 15th 2022 and joined current employer H1B on OCT 17th 2022.

    I later found out that the B H1B was never withdrawn and still active. So I requested B’s attorney to withdraw the request. USICS did receive the “request to withdraw” on April 4th 2023.

    My Employer saying that since I registered H1B with multiple employers USCIS did put that HIT on my H1B. Not sure whats going on.

    Reply
    • anonymus,
      Thanks for sharing. Can you share more context : Are these 3 companies you applied with related in some way? Are these reputed companies like Google or Microsoft?

      Reply
      • Thanks for responding. These 3 companies are normal employers who have their own in-house projects. One which got picked and approved was having client and working for client. I tried checking with them but couldn’t find any connection.

        VO used a word “Parallel Competitive Petition” while giving 221G

        Reply
        • anonymus,
          Whenever the word in-house appears, it is a red flag to the visa officer. There has been so much abuse over the years using the in-house project idea…Usually, if they were to be from a product company or large MNC, it would have been different.

          Reply
          • I see. So, even though the lottery didn’t get picked, still do we have to face revocation of approved (this one has proper client letter) h1b ?

  8. Hi Kumar,

    I’m currently working for two companies, and they will both file H1B registration for me, may I ask if this counts as duplicated filing?

    Thanks!

    Reply
  9. People are still doing multiple registrations, I just found this today on fb. Like they are literally openly posting and calling people to do multiple registrations 😓😓
    “Hi all
    Today is the last day for H1b filing those who are filing from India and other country Expect USA.

    As it is paid registrations we are collaborative with 10 different companies for multiple registrations.

    Hurry Up guys and the charges would be 10-15k INR for each filing.
    based on your capable you guys can file as much as you can and any one registration would be pickup.

    Interested can reach me out at
    +1 (978) 579 3900”

    Reply
  10. Hi Kumar,

    Thank you so much for all the wonderful information in your site.

    I have question regarding the multiple applications with multiple employers

    I didn’t understand the point here

    For example , a person is filing his h1-b registration with multiple employers who are no way connected to each other and having a prospective job offer for his skill like if he gets H1 he will be employed directly kind of things. Is this a valid scenario or it is also not allowed.

    Reply
  11. Please help me understand the authenticity of the below message from one of the potential employers:

    As the 2023 H-1B lottery quickly approaches, we are now registering qualified candidates that have the requisite IT related education and experience. USCIS will continue to use a random, computerized H-1B Cap selection system for both the regular and advanced degree exemption registration submissions.

    Please note that the USCIS has made multiple registrations by consultants illegal (https://thomasvallen.com/uscis-cracking-down-on-multiple-h-1b-cap-registrations-submitted-for-the-fiscal-year-2023/). In other words, if your name is selected in the lottery, the USCIS will check if your name and passport # was registered with any other company, and if it was, you will be automatically disqualified.

    Your thoughts

    Reply
    • Priyadarshi,
      They are highlighting fraud done by IT body shops last year. If you have real offers from companies like Google and Microsoft, you can apply for multiple, there is nothing wrong with that.

      Reply
  12. Hi,

    Have quick question, in 2017 my wife’s H1B got rejected due to speciality occupation, our consultant did not share the denial copy to us. Now they are no more with business(consultancy) and all are not reachable. Is there a way that I can obtain a copy of denial reason for that H1B. I can see from USCIS we can ask, but not sure if they ll provide directly to us. We are planning to apply again this year, and her current employer is asking for the document. It would be great if you can shed some light on here.

    Thank you.

    Reply
    • Yes still possible for NOID, I think.

      Below is the post I saw in FB today.

      “H1 revoked today as employer filed multiple filings from his sister companies without my knowledge .
      Going to India now to get h4 stamping amd come back. Will theres be any issue during h4 stamping ? Has anyone’s h4 stamping been denied ?”

      Reply
  13. Two petetions, one by company in India and the other one through consultancy. One through Indian company picked up in the lottery and h1b too approved.
    Does it still come under NOID?

    Reply
  14. I know the law firm of thomas v allen. They are the best in business immigration. Thanks for putting it out there. This would deter these IT staffing from filing multiple registrations next year. The USCIS could start revoking the approved H1Bs too. This just a beginning.

    Reply
    • I think the Approved Petitions wouldn’t be effected.
      Don’t you think that USCIS would have done this Investigation before actually starting the Approvals.

      Reply
    • Thomas V Allen has filed multiple registrations on behalf of my employer without my knowledge. They don’t respond to my emails. It’s all about money. Their client is important to them than being just in my case. One day I wake up and out of nowhere my visa is revoked. The attorney and employer do not want to respond to the notice as USCIS has proof of multiple registrations. The employer is trying to save his business and made me a scapegoat in this case by telling I resigned long ago. Best in business, my $$$

      Reply
  15. Why are Indians dying to come to USA? Are Indians that stupid? USA/American immigration system is broken. Anyone coming now will never get a green card. Life of getting visa renewed every 3 years for the rest of their life with needing to move back to India after retirement or losing a job and not finding one in 30 days is crazy. The older you get the harder to find the next job with the same job description.

    Reply
    • Srinivas,
      The grass is always greener on the other side…. It is hard to generalize, everyone has their reasons, some come for money, some for experience, some to get an experience, etc…Some try to take shortcuts and end up in trouble too. The ones in trouble are misguided and want to live the American dream without understanding the complexities of immigration system… Just lack of awareness for many of them…

      Reply
      • as per ur and Srinivas comments, then no Indian or no foreigner should come to US.
        Its bad to generalize based on ur personal experiences…….not every body will come to US to get GC….to gain some international exposure / earn money and roam around US….many more…….
        Any ways, i undestood you too guys are genious…….i will be waiting to see u guys to relocate to India soon

        Reply
  16. Few questions :

    1. Are they actively sending these NOID’s to all fraud petitioners? Any estimate on how widespread this is?

    2. Does this affect approved applications too?

    Reply
    • Abhishek,
      1. There is no official update from USCIS on this, only one attorney so far reported this. We need to wait and see
      2. Well, this is grey area. No one knows. In some cases, many years after USCIS went back and revoked them as original H1B was not filed properly due to various reasons related to misrepresentation. So, hard to say.

      Reply
      • Many attorneys are getting it. This attorney is bold enough to come out and talk about it. Many of my known friends and companies are getting these Noids

        Reply
    • Govind,
      This will attract a lot of lawsuits. The simple reason is, USCIS cannot force anyone to work with one company because they can only apply visa. That will also have employers abuse the system. So, it is tricky…

      Reply

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