Recently, abuses of the H1B visa program and its negative impact on American workers have been making headlines, particularly as American IT workers and computer engineers are replaced by cheaper white-collar workers from India.
However, another program, the L-1 visa, is being similarly exploited by recruiters and companies to obtain low-cost labor from India, but it is not as well-known or widely written about.
The L-1 visa allows multinational companies to transfer employees from foreign offices to their U.S. operations. There are two types: L-1A for executives and managers, and L-1B for workers with specialized knowledge.
Unlike H-1B visas, L-1A visas have no annual cap and no wage requirements, making them even more attractive to employers seeking to import cheaper foreign labor.
Indian nationals have dominated L-1 visa issuance for decades, rising from 4.5 percent in 1997 to 43.8 percent in 2006 and reaching 80.8 percent by 2011.
Because the L-1 program has no numerical limits, wage requirements, or labor protections, companies have used it to bypass the stricter rules of the H-1B program, which is capped at 85,000 approvals per year and requires wage and specialty-occupation verification.
The L-1A allows firms to transfer so-called executives or managers into the United States without proving they actually perform managerial duties, and many companies have used this loophole to replace American workers with lower-cost foreign labor.
IT firms have repeatedly misrepresented job titles to qualify workers for L-1A visas, exploiting the “functional manager” provision that grants approval even when the employee manages no subordinates.
USCIS has uncovered roughly 1,800 instances of L-visa fraud, including about 200 cases in which L-1A recipients were not managers, but investigations remain limited because employers argue that USCIS lacks legal authority to conduct worksite compliance checks.
As a result, widespread abuse continues unchecked. Companies have underpaid foreign workers and displaced American employees, and the EEOC found that Indian visa workers at TCS were systematically paid less than their American counterparts.
TCS is the most prominent example, securing 6,682 L-1A approvals from 2020 to 2023, compared with only 1,289 for Infosys, the next highest recipient.
Whistleblowers alleged that TCS falsified job positions and fabricated organizational charts to obtain L-1A visas, with one employee describing the charts as a “make-believe hierarchy.”
The EEOC reportedly found evidence supporting allegations that TCS frequently falsified documents in support of L-1 applications.
From October 2019 to September 2023, TCS again received 6,682 L-1A approvals while employing about 31,000 workers in the United States and classifying fewer than 600 as executives or managers, yet it secured 1,969 new or renewed L-1A visas in 2022 alone.
Three whistleblowers described how TCS misused the L-1A to evade H-1B rules. One was instructed to alter the company’s organizational chart the day before President Trump’s inauguration to make it appear TCS had more managers than it did.
Another, Vinod Govindharajan, said TCS fraudulently secured his L-1A by falsely claiming he was a manager despite having no subordinates, and that he was paid half of what his American coworkers earned.
A third whistleblower, Bedatanu Banerjee, stated that the company routinely created fake hierarchies and encouraged employees to bolster their resumes in inappropriate ways.
Infosys has its own record of violations, paying a $34 million civil settlement for systemic visa fraud involving H-1B and B-1 misuse.
Other firms, such as Larsen & Toubro, have faced lawsuits alleging they circumvented H-1B quotas by applying for business visas under false pretenses and submitting fraudulent information to obtain L-1B visas.
The government response has been slow.
Senator Chuck Grassley noted that a 2006 Inspector General report found the L-1 program vulnerable to abuse because adjudicators often could not verify whether L-1A applicants would actually serve in managerial roles.
USCIS has uncovered about 200 cases of L-1A fraud, yet its ability to conduct site visits is limited, and the agency has been blocked repeatedly by employers who argue it lacks legal authority to check worksite compliance.
Despite real cases of fraud and lost opportunities for American workers, Congress has not made a single change to the L visa program since 2003. The whistleblower lawsuits were dismissed, and the Department of Justice declined to intervene, citing insufficient grounds for action.
On September 29, 2025, Senators Grassley and Durbin introduced the H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2025, which would impose stricter employer obligations, tighten eligibility for both visa categories, restrict certain uses of the B-1 business visitor visa, and give the Departments of Homeland Security and Labor expanded enforcement powers.
Under the bill, L-1 workers employed in the United States for more than one year would have to be paid no less than the prevailing, median, or skill-level-two wage, and companies would be barred from assigning L-1 workers to third-party sites for more than a year unless they obtain a waiver and show that no American workers are displaced.
New-office L-1 petitions would face heightened scrutiny, requiring a business plan with the initial request and proof of compliance when seeking an extension.
For L-1B petitions, the bill creates a narrower definition of specialized knowledge, requiring employers to show that the knowledge is truly unique and not available in the American labor market.
The act also grants DHS authority to conduct annual L-1 audits and impose penalties for noncompliance, and it includes cooperation with the Secretary of State to verify the legitimacy of the foreign company sponsoring the transfer.
The bill would prohibit companies with more than fifty employees, where at least half are H-1B or L-1 workers, from hiring additional H-1B employees, and it explicitly bans the replacement of American workers with either visa category.
While the Trump Administration has already focused heavily on tightening H-1B rules, including the $100,000 H-1B fee introduced in September 2025, it has not yet imposed new restrictions on the L-1 program.
The Grassley-Durbin bill could influence the discussion as the administration advances its broader plans for increased oversight and enforcement. It remains to be seen whether or not it will be signed into law.
The post In addition, H1B Indian Tech Workers are Exploiting the L-1 Visa Program appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.