U.S. Agency fine of $34 million on Infosys for alleged visa fraud in 2013 is being shared as recent
A post claiming that Infosys was recently fined Rs. 283 crore ($34 million) in the United States for alleged visa fraud is being widely shared across social media platforms (here, here, here, and here). Multiple Indian media outlets have also published articles stating the same (archived here, here). In this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Infosys was recently fined (in 2024) Rs. 283 crore ($34 million) by US authorities for alleged visa fraud.
Fact: The U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement announced in 2013 that Infosys paid Rs. 283 crore ($34 million) over charges of visa fraud. This old news is now being shared as recent. In 2017, the US fined Infosys $1 million for violating visa rules in New York State. There are no recent reports suggesting that Infosys has been fined by US authorities for alleged visa fraud. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
To verify the veracity of the viral claim, we conducted a relevant keyword search. However, this search yielded no recent reports from either Indian or American media stating that Infosys was recently fined by the U.S. authorities for alleged visa fraud. During this search, we found multiple reports (here, here, and here) published in October 2013, which reported the same information that is now going viral. According to these reports, Infosys had agreed to pay $34 million to settle investigations by various U.S. government departments into its alleged misuse of visas in the US.
Additionally, we found a press release dated 29 October 2013 from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (US ICE) (archived here), which detailed the allegations against Infosys. According to this press release, Infosys was accused of misusing B-1 visas, which are typically meant for short-term business trips. The government agency accused Infosys of bringing temporary workers from India to the US for jobs that should have required H-1B visas. This misuse of the visa system was considered a violation of US immigration laws, prompting legal action. The press release also mentioned that Infosys had agreed to a $34 million civil settlement.
Furthermore, we also found a press release (archived here) by Infosys dated 30 October 2013 regarding this issue. In the release, Infosys confirmed its agreement to pay the settlement amount of $34 million, while denying and refuting the allegations of visa fraud.
According to news reports (here, here), in June 2017, Infosys agreed to pay $1 million in a civil settlement for violating visa rules in New York State. According to a press release (archived here) on the New York State Attorney General’s website, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced the settlement, stating that Infosys had failed to properly compensate hundreds of workers and pay applicable taxes by systematically abusing U.S. visa rules in placing foreign workers at client sites in New York State. A press release issued by Infosys regarding this issue can be found here (archived here).
We did not find any credible reports or news articles about any such incidents involving Infosys. We also found that the Jagran article had been updated (archived here) to clarify that the development is not recent, but dates back to 2013.
To sum up, the U.S. agencies fined Infosys Rs. 283 crore ($34 million) over charges of visa fraud in 2013. This old news is now being shared as recent.