How the L-1B Can Work For You (Ⅱ)

Inspector General’s report on L-1 visas:

Because of the increased use of, and perceived abuse of the L-1 visa, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2005 required the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security to examine the L-1 visa program and submit a report with recommendations to Congress. Recently, the Inspector General released its report, which concluded there were "vulnerabilities and abuses" of the L-1 visa program. The report also noted the following characteristics of the L-1 category.

Number of Approvals: The number of L-1 approvals began to increase in the late 1990s and hit its peak in 2001, when the government approved almost 60,000 L-1 petitions. In the years since 2001, the number of L-1 approvals has decreased to between 40,000 and 50,000 each year.

Industry: The highest percentage of L-1 visas has been in the information technology industry. In fact, from 1999 to 2004, nine of the 10 companies that had the largest number of L-1 approvals were in the information technology industry.

Nationality: The majority of L-1 approvals are for beneficiaries of India, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Germany. While there has been relatively little change in the country-percentages for L-1A managers and executives during the last four years, the percentage of L-1B specialized knowledge individuals per country has changed significantly during the last four years. For example, the percentage of L-1 beneficiaries from India increas