Is the H-1B visa lottery rigged against foreign skilled workers?

The annual H-1B visa lottery in the United States, held each April, shapes the lives of hundreds of thousands of aspiring skilled workers. 

However, with only about 85,000 H-1B visas available each year, competition is fierce, and the odds of success have diminished as application numbers soar.

Recent data obtained by Bloomberg News has exposed how certain companies have exploited loopholes in the H-1B system, effectively rigging the lottery in their favor.

The H-1B Visa Lottery: A Rigged System?

On a recent episode of the Big Take podcast, Bloomberg's investigative journalists Eric Fan and Zachary Mider revealed how outsourcing companies and staffing firms have gained an unfair advantage in the H-1B lottery.

"The game was rigged," said host Sarah Holder, summarizing the findings that demonstrate systemic exploitation.

The investigation discovered that some companies, particularly large IT outsourcing firms and small staffing agencies, have been able to flood the lottery with multiple applications for the same employees, significantly increasing their chances of securing a visa. 

This practice has been facilitated by a loophole that allowed employers to submit numerous applications under different company names or in collaboration with other firms.

Exploiting Loopholes: How Companies Gained an Advantage

Eric Fan, an investigative data reporter at Bloomberg, highlighted how the system's design allowed companies to manipulate the lottery. 

"If someone wants a visa and they can kind of work with these— a group of these very small companies, they can almost be guaranteed to get one," Fan explained. "And so the chances really skyrocket for people who are willing to work with these kinds of companies that are willing to work with these kinds of companies that are willing to cheat and kind of budge ahead in the lottery."

The loophole exploitation became especially prevalent after the Trump administration changed the application process in 2020. 

The new rules reduced the paperwork and costs required to enter the lottery, making it easier for companies to submit multiple entries. 

According to Bloomberg's findings, between 2020 and 2023, outsourcing and staffing companies received nearly half of all H-1B visas, often using these manipulative tactics.

Source : https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/work/is-the-h-1b-visa-lottery-rigged-against-foreign-skilled-workers/articleshow/112214637.cms