'Fake degrees, forged documents': US diplomat alleges widespread fraud, political interference in H-1B visa system

Indian-American US diplomat Mahvash Siddiqui has alleged widespread and systematic fraud in the H-1B visa programme, claiming that a majority of the work visas issued to Indian applicants were obtained through fraudulent means. 

The H-1B programme allows US companies to hire foreign skilled workers, with Indians historically being its largest beneficiaries, reports India Today.

Speaking on a podcast, Siddiqui — who served as a consular officer at the US Consulate in Chennai from 2005 to 2007 — said she was sharing her views in a personal capacity. 

Chennai, one of the world's busiest H-1B processing posts, handled thousands of non-immigrant applications each year, including 220,000 H-1B visas and 140,000 H-4 dependent visas in 2024 alone.

Siddiqui challenged the assertion that the US lacks domestic STEM talent and therefore depends heavily on workers from India. She alleged that 80-90% of visas issued to Indian nationals — largely H-1Bs — were fraudulent, involving fake degrees, forged documents or applicants who did not possess the high-level skills required for approval.

According to her account, consular officials in Chennai identified widespread irregularities and alerted the Secretary of State through a dissent cable. However, she claimed no action was taken because of "political pressure" from senior levels of government.

"We quickly learned about the fraud. We wrote a dissent cable detailing the systematic fraud we were uncovering. But due to political pressure from the top, our adjudication was overturned," she said in the 39-minute podcast, adding that their anti-fraud efforts were later branded a "rogue operation".

Siddiqui further alleged that political interests intervened to shut down investigations, claiming the inaction was intended to appease Indian political actors.

Proxy applicants, bribery and concerns over Hyderabad

During her two-year posting, Siddiqui said she adjudicated more than 51,000 non-immigrant visas, most of them H-1Bs. The Chennai consulate handled applications from Hyderabad, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu — with Hyderabad raising the most concerns, she noted.

"As an Indian-American, I hate to say this, but fraud and bribery are normalised in India," she claimed.

She described cases where applicants skipped interviews if the adjudicating officer was American, proxy candidates appeared in their place, and Indian managers allegedly offered jobs to fellow nationals in exchange for payment.

H-1B visas remain the primary pathway for US employers to recruit foreign skilled workers, and Indian nationals accounted for 70% of all recipients in 2024. Both F-1 student visas and H-1B visas have recently become focal points of criticism from MAGA-aligned political voices.