Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Chances of getting a work-related visa to the United States are slimmer for anyone with an Indian passport, according to a recent report that found immigration authorities increased the denial rate in the last four years.

The increase resulted in many employers being unable to transfer their employees into the U.S. to work on research projects or serve customers, the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) said in its report entitled “Data Reveal High Denial Rates for L-1 and H-1 Petitions at USCIS.”

The denial rate for India-born applicants for new L-1B petitions rose from 2.8 percent in fiscal year 2008 to 22.5 percent in FY 2009, the report said.

“USCIS [United States Citizens and Immigration Services] adjudicators have demonstrated a capacity to keep skilled foreign nationals out of the U.S. by significantly increasing denials, along with often time-consuming Requests for Evidence, despite no change in the law or relevant regulations,” said Stuart Anderson, NFAP’s executive director and former head of policy and counselor to the commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

According to the report, denial rates for L-1B petitions filed with USCIS, which are used to transfer employees with “specialized knowledge” into the U.S., rose from 7 percent in 2007 to 22 percent in 2008, despite no change in the law or relevant regulation.

Immigration authorities denied more L-1B petitions for new petitions for Indians in FY 2009 (1,640) than in the previous nine fiscal years combined (1,341 denials between FY 2000 and FY 2008), the report found.

The report noted, “If one considers that in FY 2011 63 percent of all L-1B petitions received a Request for Evidence and 27 percent were issued a denial, that means U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services adjudicators denied or delayed between 63 percent to 90 percent of all L-1B petitions in 2011.”

Denial rates for H-1B petitions, which are similar to L-1B visas, increased from 11 percent in 2007 to 29 percent in 2009, and remained higher than in the past for H-1Bs at 21 percent in 2010 and 17 percent in 2011, it noted.

“The dramatic increase in denial rates and Requests for Evidence for employment petitions without any change in the law or regulations raises questions about the training, supervision and procedures of the career bureaucracy that adjudicates petitions and the U.S. government’s commitment to maintaining a stable business climate for companies competing in the global economy,” the report said.

NFAP, an Arlington, VA-based policy research group, noted that its report used official data from USCIS.

“The data indicate much of the increase in denials involves Indian-born professionals and researchers,” the report said.

Anderson added, “The high denial rates belie the notion adjudications have become more lenient.”

The U.S. State Department, which controls the visa process, commented that the report “only covers adjudications made via USCIS,” and did not use “any State Department data.”

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