How Indian tech companies orchestrate massive H-1B visa fraud in US

ISLAMABAD: Fox News presenter Kayleigh McEnany posted on X on June 6 that an Indian institution reportedly sold more than “36,000 fake degrees” to applicants seeking US work visas. The disclosure has prompted renewed scrutiny of credential fraud in India that affects the H-1B program, a work visa that allows American companies to hire skilled foreign workers.

According to McEnany's post, the US Department of Labor has reportedly processed nearly 7 million H-1B visa holders since 2015, with over 70% originating from India.

A major investigative report by Bloomberg in July 2024 revealed the scope of the deception. Bloomberg obtained unreleased H-1B petition records from 2020 through 2023 through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, exposing systematic manipulation by Indian IT staffing firms.

The investigation found that staffing companies submitted thousands of duplicate applications for the same individuals through shell companies to significantly increase their odds of winning the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (D Visa) lottery. Bloomberg estimated that roughly 15,500 visas (about one in six awarded in a single year) were obtained through this fraudulent scheme. In one instance, a single staffing firm operator used a dozen separate companies to enter the same applicant up to 15 times.

The credential-forgery infrastructure supporting this scheme came into public view in December 2025, when police in Kerala, a southern Indian state, arrested 11 suspects and seized nearly 100,000 counterfeit university certificates, according to local news outlets, including Mathrubhumi and Malayala Manorama.

The mastermind of the operation, identified as Dhaneesh (alias "Dany"), coordinated document forgery across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. Major national investigations found that forged certificates were sold for approximately $790 to $1,580 each.

Mahvash Siddiqui, a US consular officer who reviewed about 51,000 visa applications at the American consulate in Chennai between 2005 and 2007, detailed the fraud mechanism during a Center for Immigration Studies podcast interview. Siddiqui stated that up to 90% of applications from Indian nationals contained fraudulent documents or involved unqualified applicants.

In the Indian state of Hyderabad, a major technology hub, Siddiqui explained that visa consultancy shops produced counterfeit degrees, fake transcripts, and forged bank statements on an industrial scale. Applicants submitted Microsoft IT certifications instead of the required computer science degrees to circumvent the requirements.

Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, and Cognizant (India's largest technology staffing companies) employed workers in the US with fabricated credentials, according to statements from a fraud task force cited by Siddiqui.

Indian supervisors at these companies extracted monthly payments of $2,000 to $4,000 from employees earning $12,000 annually to retain their jobs. Job interviews were conducted by qualified proxies rather than by actual applicants, allowing fraudulently hired workers to pass screening.

US Department of Justice records show that IT staffing executives at S-Team Software pleaded guilty to submitting fraudulent visa petitions and fabricating job offers and institutional ties to secure approvals. According to Bloomberg, IT staffing firms intentionally paid lower salaries than mainstream American technology companies.

Reports from Business Standard, an Indian financial newspaper, detailed how this fraud displaced qualified domestic job candidates.

According to Department of Labor data cited by McEnany in a video published on the June 6 post, 83% of H-1B visa holders obtained junior or entry-level positions. The H-1B program officially targets high-skilled positions.

A 15-member fraud task force of US consular officers filed an official dissent cable to the State Department, documenting widespread fraud affecting 80% to 90% of H-1B applicants from India, according to Siddiqui. The unit was characterized as a "rogue operation" by consular leadership, citing political pressure from Indian officials demanding increased visa approvals.

The Texas Attorney General launched investigations into dozens of companies suspected of maintaining "ghost offices": fake business locations used to sponsor foreign visas without actual operations.

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement flagged 10,000 foreign students linked to shell employer companies under the Optional Practical Training work program, which allows international graduates to work in the United States after completing university degrees.

In response, US Citizenship and Immigration Services restructured its H-1B visa lottery system to adopt "beneficiary-centric" selection, allowing each individual exactly one entry regardless of the number of employer registrations. Official USCIS data shows that eligible registrations dropped from 470,342 in fiscal year 2025 to 343,981 in fiscal year 2026, a 26.9% reduction. The average number of registrations per individual fell to 1.01, eliminating duplicate entries.

The visa fraud has sent ripples across the world. Australia tightened skilled worker visa protocols, warning that permanent residency can be revoked if applications used forged credentials, according to the country’s immigration authorities.

Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom have similarly activated credential verification audits, according to immigration tracking reports.