- The H-1B visa was created in 1990 with a 65,000 cap, but actual annual approvals are about 4.7 times higher due to exemptions for universities, nonprofits, and renewals, totaling around 399,000 in FY2024.
- The program is dominated by Indian IT workers, who receive about 71% of H-1B approvals, while the green card per-country cap (7%) creates multi-decade waits, effectively trapping workers and enabling exploitation.
- Beyond the H-1B, larger pathways like Optional Practical Training (OPT, over 505,000 workers in FY2024) and H-4 spousal work permits expand the skilled workforce to about 1.28 million, roughly two-thirds of the U.S. software workforce.
- Wage protections are weak: the required prevailing wage is often set below market, and the $60,000 exemption for H-1B-dependent employers has not been adjusted for inflation since 1998, allowing widespread underpayment.
- Fraud and abuse are documented, including a 2008 audit finding 13.4% fraud, and recent lottery gaming reduction from 408,891 duplicate registrations to under 8,000 after a per-person rule was implemented.
- Major Indian IT firms (Infosys, TCS, Cognizant, HCL, Wipro) are the heaviest users, with documented settlements for visa fraud, below-market pay (47-64% less), and discrimination against non-Indian staff.
- The visa system fuels India's export-driven economy, with IT services exports of $224 billion and remittances of $129 billion, while a WTO dispute filed by India in 2016 remains frozen to protect its dominant share.
- The program creates winners (Indian IT firms, U.S. companies) and losers (American workers displaced, H-1B holders stuck in long green card queues), with some layoffs requiring employees to train their replacements.