Start a company, sponsor yourself for an H-1B visa, and sponsor friends and family for H-1B visas. The H-1B data obtained by Bloomberg suggests that this is happening on a massive scale.
H-1B nonimmigrants have always been able to set up companies in the United States and use those companies to sponsor friends and family for additional H-1B visas. Under President Biden’s late-night H-1B modernization rule, aliens can set up companies in the United States and sponsor themselves for H-1B and other immigration benefits. This is one of many regulations Biden used to create immigration mayhem that the Trump administration has inexplicably failed to rescind.
Illustrating the variety of circumstances, the 2024 H-1B visa data reveal that in:
- Zip Code 75009, Celina, Texas: The worksite for 21 of 21 (100 percent) approved H-1B visas is a residence.
- Zip Code 20105, Aldie, Va.: The worksite for 150 of 151 (99 percent) approved H-1B visas is a residence.
- Zip Code 07302, Jersey City, N.J.: The worksite for 172 of 181 (95 percent) approved H-1B visas is a residence.
- Zip Code 28215, Charlotte, N.C.: The worksite for 14 of 15 (93 percent) of approved H-1B visas is a residence.
- Zip Code 75098, Wylie, Texas: The worksite for 12 of 13 (92 percent) approved H-1B visas is a residence.
- Zip Code 27519, Cary, N.C.: The worksite for 43 of 54 (80 percent) approved H-1B visas is a residence.
- Zip Code 76227, Aubrey, Texas: The worksite for 21 of 27 (78 percent) approved H-1B visas is a residence.
- Zip Code 75035, Frisco, Texas: The worksite for 95 of 156 (61 percent) approved H-1B visas is a residence.
- Zip Code 28226, Charlotte, N.C.: The worksite for three of five (60 percent) approved H-1B visas is a residence.
- Zip Code 30041, Cumming, Ga.: The worksite for 42 of 110 (38 percent) approved H-1B visas is a residence.
- Zip Code 63021, Ballwin, Mo.: The worksite for five of 14 (36 percent) approved H-1B visas is a residence.
- Zip Code 07310, Jersey City, N.J.: The worksite for 52 of 201 (26 percent) approved H-1B visas is a residence.
- Zip Code 08820, Edison, N.J.: The worksite for 25 of 104 (24 percent) approved H-1B visas is a residence.
- Zip Code 95051, Santa Clara, Calif.: The worksite for 106 of 463 (23 percent) approved H-1B visas is a residence.
- Zip Code 95034, Milpitas, Calif.: The worksite for 75 of 324 (23 percent) approved H-1B visas is a residence.
- Zip Code 63005, Chesterfield, Mo.: The worksite for seven of 38 (18 percent) approved H-1B visas is a residence.
- Zip Code 08817, Edison, N.J.: The worksite for 51 of 481 (11 percent) approved H-1B visas is a residence.
- Zip Code 77077, Houston, Texas: The worksite for six of 154 (4 percent) approved H-1B visas is a residence.
- Zip Code 75002, Allen, Texas: None of the worksites for approved H-1B visas is a residence.
These are just illustrative examples, rather than a complete dataset, because identifying residences requires manually looking up individual addresses.
The pattern of H-1B nonimmigrants with implausible worksites was apparent in the Labor Condition Application (LCA) data that the Department of Labor had made available for decades. Unfortunately, the LCA data does not match up one-to-one with visas. Now, with Bloomberg’s H-1B data, it is possible to identify the worksites provided to USCIS for approved H-1B visas.
In the great majority of cases where the worksite specified to USCIS is a residence, there was only one approved H-1B for that year. Additional research would be required to identify whether such addresses were H-1B worksites over multiple years. Some residences, however, were the worksite for multiple approved H-1B visas, sometimes as many as 100-plus visas. Some residences even had approved H-1B visas from multiple employers.
There is a hierarchy of dubious worksites. The bottom end of H-1B worksites are mailboxes. Moving up a step is residences. Then comes virtual offices as worksites. Above that are small offices. At the top are large offices where the number of H-1B visas exceeds the possible capacity of the workspace.
It is apparent from the implausible worksites in the data that many H-1B visas were approved where no real jobs exist. Employers are getting the H-1B visa first and then trying to find work for the nonimmigrant beneficiary afterwards. Even where the worksite is a large 21,761 square-foot corporate office, it is unlikely that the nonimmigrants receiving 828 approved H-1B visas were ever intended to work there.
It is clear from the data that employers, big and small, are importing H-1B nonimmigrants without having any actual work for them. The H-1B program simply floods the United States with additional labor that harms American workers, especially recent graduates.
Going through the actual visa data, one can readily see how dysfunctional the H-1B visa program is.