Mahvash Siddiqui, an Indian American diplomat who previously served at the U.S. Consulate in Chennai, has urged Washington to temporarily halt the H-1B visa program while a comprehensive audit is carried out. Drawing on her time at the post, she said she observed extensive misuse of the system and believes a thorough review is necessary before the program continues.
In a column for the Center for Immigration Studies, Siddiqui went into further detail about what she described as systemic abuse of the process. As per Times of India, she claimed that forged documents — including fake degrees, bank statements, and even marriage or birth certificates are readily available in Hyderabad’s Ameerpet area. According to her, these documents are used to game the H-1B system, a practice she alleged has become entrenched through bribery and a troubling normalization of fraud.
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“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. 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 had written.
Siddiqui, who was among 15 junior visa officers posted in Chennai, said the consulate had earned a grim reputation as “the H-1B visa fraud capital of the world.” In her account, she argued that the program has increasingly been used as a backdoor by Indian applicants between the ages of 20 and 45, many of whom, she claimed, rely on fabricated credentials — a trend she says has come at the expense of qualified American IT and STEM professionals.
Highlighting how dramatically the program has grown, she wrote, “From 2005–2007, Chennai adjudicated ~100,000 H-1Bs annually. Today, demand has exploded to 400,000-plus per year.”
She went on to take aim at what she described as aggressive lobbying by Indian business groups and Silicon Valley companies, arguing that lawmakers were persuaded to believe American workers were somehow less competent. Siddiqui said the H-1B program was originally meant to attract specialized talent from across the world, but over time it has morphed into what she called an immigration fast track largely dominated by a single country.
To fix what she sees as deep-rooted flaws, Siddiqui laid out a set of reforms she believes are overdue. She called for a temporary halt on new H-1B approvals until a comprehensive audit of the program is completed, along with much stricter vetting to thoroughly check degrees, skills, and work histories.
She also argued that U.S. STEM graduates should be given priority in fields where domestic talent is available, and that nepotistic or chain-hiring practices that shut out Americans should be barred. Pointing to recent prosecutions, she said tougher penalties can act as a real deterrent against fraud, and added that on-site inspections must be significantly expanded to reflect the size and risk profile of the program.