Former US Representative and economist Dr Dave Brat has claimed that there is large-scale fraud in the H-1B visa system. He made these comments during an appearance on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast, saying that one district in India received more than double the number of H-1B visas allowed across the entire United States. His remarks have brought fresh attention to the programme at a time when the Trump administration is already tightening rules for H-1B visas.

Brat said the visa programme has been “captured by industrial-scale fraud.” He pointed out that 71% of H-1B visas go to Indian applicants, while only 12% go to Chinese applicants, and argued that this imbalance suggests misuse. According to him, despite the legal limit of 85,000 H-1B visas, the Madras (Chennai) district alone ended up getting around 220,000 visas, which he described as “a scam.” He claimed such practices harm American workers by letting unskilled people enter the US job market under the label of “skilled workers.”

Reports say the US Consulate in Chennai processed around 220,000 H-1B visas and an additional 140,000 H-4 dependent visas in 2024. This consulate handles applications from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, and Telangana, making it one of the busiest visa centres in the world.

These claims also revived older allegations made by Mahvash Siddiqui, an Indian-origin US diplomat who worked at the Chennai consulate about 20 years ago. She said that between 2005 and 2007, she processed more than 51,000 non-immigrant visas, mostly H-1B visas, and claimed that 80–90% of the applications she saw had issues like fake degrees, forged documents, or applicants who were not actually highly skilled.

Siddiqui specifically mentioned Hyderabad, calling it a major centre for visa fraud. She said areas like Ameerpet had shops that trained people on how to clear interviews and openly sold fake job letters, educational certificates, and even fake marriage documents. She added that when consular officers tried to act against these patterns, they faced “political pressure,” and their anti-fraud efforts were dismissed as a “rogue operation.”

She also alleged that some applicants avoided interviews with American officers, used proxy candidates, and that some employers in India demanded bribes to issue job offers used for H-1B applications. The H-1B visa allows US companies to hire foreign workers in specialised fields like technology. Indians make up nearly 70% of all H-1B holders, making India the largest contributor to the programme.

Recently, H-1B and even F-1 student visas have come under criticism from MAGA-aligned groups who argue that these programmes hurt American workers. Despite the controversy, former President Donald Trump recently signalled support for continuing the H-1B programme. In a Fox News interview, he said that the US needs global talent to stay competitive and fill workforce gaps, suggesting he is open to keeping the programme active despite criticism.