Chennai Issued 220,000 H-1B Visas: US Economist Dave Brat Alleges Fraud

America’s H-1B visa programme has come under fresh scrutiny after US economist and former Congressman Dave Brat alleged that visa allocations linked to Chennai exceed the annual national cap.

Speaking on a podcast, Brat claimed that although only 85,000 new H-1B visas are allowed each year in the US, applicants connected to Chennai received about 220,000 visas — more than twice that number. He suggested this points to large-scale fraud in the system.

Brat also highlighted that 71% of all H-1B visas go to Indian nationals, while China, the second-highest recipient, gets only about 12%. He argued this imbalance raises questions about how the programme is being used.

The US Consulate in Chennai is one of the busiest H-1B processing hubs in the world, handling applications from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Telangana. Many Indian tech professionals apply through this centre before moving to the US for jobs.

Brat linked his comments to the anti-immigration agenda of some conservative groups, saying American workers may be losing job opportunities. He claimed that many applicants are not highly skilled, despite what employers say.

His remarks follow earlier statements by Mahvash Siddiqui, a former US diplomat who worked at the Chennai consulate. She alleged that thousands of H-1B applications from India involve fake job offers, forged degrees or proxy interviews, and that some agencies in Hyderabad train applicants and provide fake documents.

The claims have sparked debate in the US and India, although there has been no official response from the US government, immigration authorities or the Indian government so far.

The H-1B programme remains important for American technology companies, which depend heavily on skilled workers from India.