H-1B programme has 'deviated from its intent', now filled with 'average workers': Ex-US official slams big tech over H-1B use

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A former US consular officer has sharply criticised the H-1B visa programme, claiming it has drifted far away from its original goal of bringing highly skilled workers into the United States. Simon Hankinson, who conducted thousands of visa interviews in India during his career, wrote in a Fox News opinion piece that the programme is now largely dominated by workers with ordinary qualifications.

Hankinson said he realised this problem early in his career. “While there were a few obviously exceptional talents among the hundreds, if not thousands, of visa applicants I interviewed in my career, most were average college-graduate workers,” he wrote. He argued that “the H-1B visa has badly deviated from its original intent and needs significant reform to put American workers first.”

His remarks follow similar claims last week by former Congressman Dave Brat and former diplomat Mahvash Siddiqui, who alleged widespread fraud within the programme.

Claims of unfair competition

According to Hankinson, the H-1B category was meant for “specialty occupations” where US companies genuinely could not find talent at home. However, he said that the rules do not require employers to first look for qualified Americans. This loophole, he argued, allows companies to hire foreign workers for positions that could have been filled by US graduates.

He added that American students are being undercut by foreign workers who arrive with far less debt. “Meanwhile, Americans are borrowing hundreds of thousands of dollars to get to the same level. They can’t take jobs at the same low salaries their H-1B competitors can,” Hankinson wrote, warning that the system is discouraging Americans from studying technology and engineering.

Criticism of US companies

Hankinson also accused major companies of using foreign hiring to replace local workers. He pointed to Amazon, writing, “Amazon got over 10,000 approvals for H-1B visas in 2025, in the same year they announced cuts of over 30,000 jobs. Was any effort made to retrain or reassign Americans?” He claimed that many firms “hire abroad, fire at home.”

He further argued that companies do not need such large numbers of foreign workers. “The truth is, the number of real ‘specialty’ workers that even big American companies really need should fit in a bus, not a stadium,” he wrote. He added that tech companies willing to offer huge bonuses for rare talent should also be ready to pay high salaries to a small number of foreign specialists.

Allegations of lottery manipulation

Hankinson also claimed that some US firms and outsourcing agencies manipulated the H-1B lottery by filing multiple applications for the same worker. In a November report for the Heritage Foundation, he cited the example of Indian politician Kandi Srinivas Reddy, accusing him of using shell companies to submit duplicate petitions.

“For example, from 2020 to 2023, Indian politician Kandi Srinivasa Reddy used several shell companies he owned to submit multiple entries for the same workers,” he wrote. He said Reddy’s companies submitted over 3,000 applications in 2020 alone and often charged workers “up to 30 percent of their pay.”

Hankinson has called for strict reforms to “safeguard American workers,” saying the current system benefits companies more than employees or innovation.