As the outcome of the U.S. government’s visa fraud investigation of Infosys looms, the company has enlisted the assistance of a small, India-based IT services company to find 10 immigration paralegals to beef up its immigration management operations in Plano, Texas.
The paralegals will be tasked with reviewing Labor Condition Applications (the documents that a prospective H-1B employer files with the Department of Labor in order to employ nonimmigrant workers), and implementing Public Access Files, where LCAs and supporting documentation are made available for public examination. That this effort is under way was brought to my attention by a recipient of an email from Damcosoft, an Indian IT services company working for Infosys to fill the positions. That Infosys is outsourcing this work to a third party seems peculiar, but I’ll get to that momentarily.
First, here’s the job description and other details, as conveyed in the email:
Job Title: Immigrant Paralegal consultant
Location: Plano, TX
Duration: 3 months +
RATE: Negotiable
We are directly with the client and don’t go through any layers
Years of Experience: 1- 3 years
US Immigration Operations – Paralegal (LCA) (10 positions)
Infosys Limited is seeking full time Immigration Operations Paralegal for its Plano, Texas Office. The successful candidate will be responsible for serving as our in-house specialist regarding the maintenance and continued implementation of our PAF (Public Access File) process. The candidate will report to our US Immigration Compliance Auditor and serve on our US Immigration Operations Team. One to two more senior members of this team may have direct reportees. This position is a contract position which has the potential to possibly lead to a permanent role with the company.
Preference of client for level of experience:
- Corporate Immigration Paralegal, this person will have knowledge of LCA (Labor Condition Application) processes and immigration regulations.
- Immigration Paralegal, experience in the world of immigration and international processes.
- Administrative Assistants, preferably with some kind of knowledge of LCA (Labor Condition Application) or any other immigration/international experience.
If none of those are in applicable [sic], a solid admin with personality will be trained. Must be willing to perform meticulous and at times monotonous tasks. Very low stress, 9-6, M-F.
Responsibilities will include:
- Input data and procure Prevailing Wage material and LCAs (start to finish)
- Review and identify inaccuracies and incorrect LCA data entry
- Liaison with US Immigration Compliance Team to ensure timely handover so PAF team can receive 100% accurate LCAs to be included in a continuous high-volume flow of PAF documentation
- Researching current and new PAF regulations
- Work with Immigration Operations managers to brainstorm advanced and more efficient LCA protocols and techniques
The email was sent by Depp Sidhu, a Damcosoft business manager in New York. According to the Damcosoft website, the company is run by Mohit Gupta as CEO and Dimple Gupta as managing director for India. And according to several posts on glassdoor.com, a jobs website with employee-generated content, the Guptas are a husband-wife team who run a somewhat unpleasant ship, especially with respect to HR and pay. Here are some of the complaints listed on the site by Damcosoft employees (lightly edited for clarity):
- Salary comes very late. “DAMCO” means Dimple and Mohit Company, i.e. a complete lala company. They do not have worthy projects. HR, pre-sale and management is bad. Very little chances of career growth. Very very poor infrastructure.
- HR is incompetent and may take legal actions, if you try to leave company (that is why I have to work here).
- HR is inefficient and they have forced people through legal means in past to stay in the company.
- HR is horrible.
- Infrastructure is terrible.
- Paychecks do not come on time and sometimes they don’t even come.
- They do not pay what they commit.
- After joining you may not get whatever they offer before joining.
Infosys has a large team of internal recruiters in the United States, so it’s unclear why it turned to an outside company to fill these sensitive positions. Why Infosys is using an Indian company with such a lousy HR report card is perplexing, especially when you consider that the slots it’s filling are immigration-related jobs in Plano, the hub of the Infosys HR operation in the United States. Is Damcosoft really the best screener for candidates for these particular positions?
Infosys did not respond to a request for comment.
