Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India: A prominent American economist and former US Representative, Dr Dave Brat, has sharply criticised India’s role in the H-1B visa system, claiming the program is being misused on a large scale. Brat said that although the official annual H-1B quota is 85,000, a single district in India reportedly received around 220,000 H-1B visas, which is more than two and a half times the national limit.
Speaking on Steve Bannon’s podcast, Brat alleged that such misuse directly affects American families, calling these visas “fraudulent” and warning that “they take away the future from US workers.” He also stated that China accounts for only about 12% of H-1B entries, suggesting the majority are coming from India. Reports indicate that in 2024, the US Consulate in Chennai processed nearly 220,000 H-1B visas along with around 140,000 H-4 dependent visas.
November 24, 2025
Spotlight on the Chennai Consulate After Insider’s Testimony
The focus on the Chennai consulate intensified after Mahvash Siddiqui, an Indian-origin US Foreign Service Officer, publicly described large-scale irregularities in the visa system. Reflecting on her tenure at the Chennai post nearly two decades ago, Siddiqui claimed that 80–90% of H-1B applications from India were fraudulent—involving fake degrees, forged supporting documents, or applicants lacking the high-skill qualifications required for the visa.
Siddiqui served at the Chennai consulate between 2005 and 2007, during which she handled more than 51,000 H-1B cases. The office oversaw applications from Hyderabad, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. Among these, she said Hyderabad posed the biggest challenge, especially the Ameerpet area, where she alleged that shops were openly helping applicants obtain counterfeit educational records, employment letters, and even marriage certificates.
According to Siddiqui, she and her colleagues quickly identified consistent fraud patterns and reported them to senior officials. However, their efforts were allegedly met with strong political resistance. She said that their attempts to curb fraudulent practices were labelled a “rogue operation,” and that influential political figures were involved, pressuring them to stop their investigations.
