Ex-US lawmaker claims Chennai processed 220K H1B visas while yearly limit is 85K

'Industrial-scale fraud': Ex-US Congressman claims Chennai processed 220K H1B visas while yearly limit is 85K

A claim by former US Congress, Republican Dave Brat, where he said Chennai got 220,000 H1B visas while the statutory cap for the same is 85,000, has raised speculations of whether there is widespread fraud in the system.

Brat made these claims on a talk show hosted by conservative political strategist Steve Bannon on X called Bannon's WarRoom.

Brat, in the talk show, claimed the 'Madras district' got more than double the permitted H1B limit per year for the entire world, saying that this amounts to 'industrial-scale fraud'.

He also went on to claim that India gets 71 per cent of all H1B visas while China accounts for only 12 per cent of the same.

Brat then warns that such entries take away the jobs and the ability to own homes from American citizens.

"When I say H-1B visa, you need to think of your cousins, your aunts and uncles, and your grandparents. One of these folks comes over and claims they're skilled; they're not. That's the fraud. They just took away your family's job, and your mortgage, and your house, and all that," he said.

Does Chennai process more than 2 lakh H1B visas every year?

As per several reports, Chennai did process around 220,000 visas in 2024. The US Consulate in Chennai is one of the busiest in the world when it comes to the processing of H1B visas, since it serves the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, as well as Telangana.

The figure of 220,000 has not been independently verified by Mint.

This is not the first time such claims have been made. Earlier, Mahvash Siddiqui, an Indian-American diplomat, had also raised a similar issue, calling the H1B visa applications in India an 'industrial scale' fraud.

Siddiqui, having served at the Chennai consulate from 2005 to 2007, said that most of the H1B visas that Indians get a fraudulent, since they produce fake letters of employment, forged degrees, as well as proxy interviews.

Siddiqui has also claimed that there are coaching centres in Hyderabad which teach visa applicants how to go about with the process. She alleged that these centres themselves sell employment letters as well as educational certificates that are fake.

Source: LiveMint
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