Companies Seeking H-1B Visas Asked to Prove Future Work Exists

Companies seeking H-1B workers are being asked to prove they’ll have definite assignments for the full three-year term of the visa, the latest hurdle from the administration in its crackdown on the specialty occupation visa program.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services requests for statements of work, vendor agreements, and a list of projects “have become really standard with third-party placement situations and staffing companies,” said Jennifer Minear of Richmond, Va.-based McCandlish Holton. “That was ridiculous enough,” but that type of evidence doesn’t even exist for employees who perform in-house work, she said.

“How can any of us guarantee we’ll be ...