May 24: Amid controversies over its use of US business visas, Infosys on Tuesday said an American court has sought the documents and records related to the company’s sponsorships and utilisation of B1 business visas. The development comes at a time when Infosys is facing a lawsuit by a former employee, Mr Jack Palmer, alleging that he was asked by the firm to sign on documents which said workers were heading to the US to have meetings rather than to work there.
The country’s second largest software exporter said it has received a “subpoena” from a Grand Jury in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. “The subpoena requires that Infosys provide to the Grand Jury certain documents and records related to the company’s sponsorships for, and uses of, B1 business visas,” Infosys said in a statement. It added that Infosys intends to comply with the subpoena and cooperate with the Grand Jury’s investigation. A subpoena is a writ issued by a court of justice requiring a person to appear before the court at a specified time.
Mr Palmer in his lawsuit has also alleged that this was done to “creatively” overcome H1-B visa caps. Recently, Infosys said its business could be adversely affected if the US decides to restrict the visa programme as a fallout of the case. “If the US undertakes any actions which limit the B1 business visa programmes that we utilise, this could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations,” Infosys said.