The Normal Procedure

The Present Challenges

If you are currently employed or seeking a job overseas :

As a first step to file a petition for work visa the employer requests EVALUATION OF FOREIGN CREDENTIALS from an accredited organization that evaluates education and employment related credentials of a foreign worker. The evaluation is performed to establish an equivalency of foreign degree / work experience status.

Employers requesting the approval from the dept of Labor, have to submit the Prevailing Wage Rate, which is gathered via 'local surveys' of the geographic area. Most often employers at their discretion to submit all or withhold some documents (only while filing of the visa petition) of the petitioning alien worker to claim a lower prevailing wage rate.

Once the petition is approved, with a 'fixed' salary out-flow, employers bid for projects inflating the credentials of the guest worker amassing higher profits while driving down local wages. Creating an abused  workforce.

There is a direct link between people smuggling and employment related document fraud. Employment related document fraud case studies are identical & similar and independent of the host nations. India's outward migration of rich talent pool is therefore a spill over on the illegal population in major economies  

Application process for an Employer sponsored work visa mandates evaluation of foreign credentials only. (equivalency check). There is NO Verification of submitted documents. Original documents are not submitted. Submitted documents are not checked for authenticity. 

Note: Those seeking transcript to be evaluated for "higher studies" are different than those seeking "employment overseas"

The employer obtains an approval  from the Dept of Labor, that documents the prevailing wage rate paid to the sponsored guest worker. Prevailing wage determination is based on the education, work experience, location of job and the occupation industry. Fraudulent documentation inflates the wage parity, allowing scope for ' wage abuse ', making the job market less competitive.

Fraudulent documentation has a ripple effect in the labor intensive recruitment of genuine candidates giving rise to an increasing number of 'brokers' that aid in the forgery of document fraud. This creates an indentured workforce.

Knowledge workers are upwardly mobile and extremely flexible who can be absorbed by employers globally. 

... more issues