Indian-origin US diplomat Mahvash Siddiqui who claimed to have seen H-1B fraud first hand during her posting in the Chennai consular office in India, said that the entire visa program needs to be paused pending a full program audit. Writing for the Center for Immigration Studies, Siddiqui said fake degrees, forged bank statements, fake marriage/birth certificates are sold in Hyderabad’s Ameerpet to cater to the H-1B ‘scam’ which is functioning through bribery and cultural normalization of fraud. “Many H-1Bs claiming computer science degrees had no related coursework or programming skills; basic coding tests often exposed them. Corrupt HR officials in both India and the U.S.
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facilitated fake employment letters, allowing underqualified candidates to bypass scrutiny. A pervasive “halo effect” favored Indian applicants, compounded by bribery (“rishwat”) and cultural normalization of fraud. In the U.S., some Indian managers created insular hiring networks, excluding Americans, protecting unqualified hires, and fostering “honor among thieves” environments that discouraged whistleblowing. American IT graduates — trained through rigorous programs — were left unemployed or were forced to train their H-1B replacements for lower pay,” Siddiqui wrote.
‘Chennai consulate is H-1B visa fraud capital of the world’
In a podcast earlier, Siddiqui explained how she was one of 15 junior visa officers in Chennai, which she has now called the H-1B visa fraud capital of the world. “H-1B visas became the perfect loophole for many Indian nationals aged 20–45 to enter the U.S. with fraudulent or inflated credentials, displacing qualified American IT and STEM workers. From 2005–2007, Chennai adjudicated ~100,000 H-1Bs annually. Today, demand has exploded to 400,000-plus per year,” she wrote. “A pervasive “halo effect” favored Indian applicants, compounded by bribery (“rishwat”) and cultural normalization of fraud. In the U.S., some Indian managers created insular hiring networks, excluding Americans, protecting unqualified hires, and fostering “honor among thieves” environments that discouraged whistleblowing. American IT graduates — trained through rigorous programs — were left unemployed or were forced to train their H-1B replacements for lower pay,” Siddiqui wrote.
‘Congress misled by Silicon Valley’s nepotism’
The American diplomat said Indian lobbyists and Silicon Valley have pushed a disinformation campaign portraying American workers as less capable and Congress, often naive to these realities, has been misled.
‘De facto immigration shortcut dominated by one country’
The US diplomat said while H-1B is meant for skilled employees from any foreign country, the visa program has become a de facto immigration shortcut dominated by one country. Her sugegstions for the H-1B visa program include:
- Pause new H-1B issuances pending a full program audit.
- Strengthen vetting — verify degrees, skills, and employment history rigorously.
- Prioritize U.S. STEM graduates for hiring in sectors with available talent.
- Ban nepotistic/chain hiring practices that exclude Americans.
- Enforce penalties for fraud — recent prosecutions prove deterrence is possible.
- Expand site inspections to match program scale and risk.
