U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has engaged outside contractors to conduct thousands of site visits to petitioners, including companies that have sponsored employees in H-1B, L-1 or O-1 status.  Typically, the site visits are conducted after approval of the petition.  The investigators may arrive unannounced at the work site, or call the company ahead of time to plan a time to visit the company office or facility.  According to information provided by one such investigator, the purpose of the site visit is to verify that the company is a real operating business entity, and that the person sponsored in the petition is actually employed by the company in the manner described in the petition.  Hunton & Williams clients should contact us immediately if your company is the target of such an investigation, so we can coordinate the process and assist with satisfying any legitimate requests by the investigator.