Brat’s claim about Chennai consulate H-1B visa fraud is unverified allegation, not confirmed fact: HAF statement

In response to former US Representative Dave Brat’s allegations that there has been significant fraud in processing H-1B visas at the US Consulate in Chennai, HAF has issued the following statement:



“We are troubled by the misinformation being shared about the Chennai Consulate supposedly issuing 220,000 H-1B visas. While several media outlets have reported on Brat’s claims they explicitly note that the figure has not been independently verified by any official US government source. To clarify, the US cap of 85,000 H-1B visas applies only to new visas selected through the lottery and does not include renewals, extensions, or dependent visas. It is possible for a consulate to process a large number of these visa events without violating the cap. There is currently no public data showing that Chennai issued 220,000 H-1B visas in a single year, so this claim should be treated as an unverified allegation, not a confirmed fact.

It’s also important to recognize that making sweeping statements like this about a community or a country, especially from a political leader, is dangerous and ignorant. Claims like this can inflame prejudice and spread misinformation, and we should be careful not to amplify them.”