iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
Several dozen Indian students on Optional Practical Training (OPT) whose H-1B visas were denied because of fraud committed by their employers, leading to a lawsuit filed by over 70 students, have had these sanctions lifted.
On May 2, the US district court in Washington, Seattle, approved the stipulated dismissal agreement; and according to the court document: “Nothing can preclude the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) any of its component agencies, or any other US government agency from evaluating plaintiffs admissibility at any time in the future.”
Last year, nearly 70 Indian nationals filed a lawsuit against the US government for denying them H-1B visas because of fraud committed by their former OPT employers, a lawsuit was filed in federal district court in Washington.
According to the court documents, the Indian students in the suit worked for four IT staffing companies — Andwill Technologies, AzTech Technologies LLC, Integra Technologies LLC, and WireClass Technologies LLC.
Each of the companies was approved to participate in OPT (Optional Practical Training) and certified through the E-Verify employment verification program.
DHS alleged earlier that the companies have asked students to pay the company for pre-employment training in exchange for an employment offer letter so that the student could apply for and eventually receive an OPT employment authorization document (“EAD”).
The lawsuit filed by students last August argued that they all entered the US legally and sought an order directing DHS to provide each plaintiff with an opportunity to show he or she “maintained valid status,” possessed “good moral character” and did not make a “knowing and willful misrepresentation” by and through any association with the OPT Companies.
Jonathan D. Wasden, the attorney representing students, told indica through an email on the stipulated dismissal agreement between both parties, ‘We will be taking on the secret fraud findings more directly in our next case.”
