By Cate Chapman, Editor at LinkedIn News – The U.S. is investigating whether “several dozen small technology” firms have colluded to game the H-1B visa lottery for skilled foreign workers, The Wall Street Journal reports. Those companies entered the same individual candidates multiple times into the lottery, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said, in an alleged attempt to boost those individuals’ chances of winning a visa. USCIS said the practice is largely responsible for pushing lottery submissions to a record high this year, with 781,000 entries for 85,000 visa slots.

Companies that submit lottery applications must attest that a real job is waiting for those potential hires. Fraud charges could be filed if a company wins a visa but then immediately lays off the employee — letting them switch jobs — or contracts the employee out to a third party.