An analysis of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), a nonpartisan public policy research organization, reveals that big technology companies in the United States secured the highest number of approved H-1B visa petitions for initial employment in Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25). This marks a significant shift, with US firms now occupying all top spots for H-1B petition approvals.

Among the leading technology giants, Amazon topped the list with 4,644 approved H-1B petitions for initial employment in FY25. Following Amazon were Meta Platforms with 1,555 approvals, Microsoft with 1,394, and Google with 1,050. A substantial portion of this hiring surge is attributed to the companies' $380 billion investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and related expenditures during 2025. It is important to note that these figures represent petition approvals, not individual employees, as an H-1B visa holder might receive multiple approvals for continuing employment within the same year, making a simple count of initial and continuing employment potentially misleading.

The current landscape reflects a notable decline for Indian companies, with only three making it into the top 25 employers for H-1B approvals in FY25. The top seven Indian companies collectively received 4,573 H-1B petitions, representing a 70% decrease from FY15 and a 37% drop compared to FY24.

Experts have voiced concerns over the H-1B approval rate, deeming the annual limit of 85,000 (65,000 general cap and 20,000 for master’s degree holders or higher from US universities) as too low. This limit constitutes only 0.05% of the US labor force, despite approximately 700,000 individuals living and working in the US with H-1B status. Data for FY25 shows that out of 442,000 unique beneficiaries who entered the H-1B registration process (selected by lottery), over 300,000 applications were rejected due to the cap.

The NFAP analysis also highlighted the broader US job market for H-1B visas. In FY25, 28,277 US employers were approved to hire at least one new H-1B visa holder, underscoring that the H-1B visa is often the sole avenue for hiring high-skilled foreign nationals. Of these, 61% of employers received approval for a single H-1B petition, and 95% had ten or fewer new H-1B petitions approved. Interestingly, over half of new H-1B petitions were granted to employers with 15 or fewer approvals, and 72% went to those with 100 or fewer approvals.

The data challenges the notion of H-1B visa holders as “indentured servants,” as 68,167 H-1B petitions were approved for individuals changing to a new employer in FY25, with more than one-third (37%) transferring from another employer.

Regarding denial rates, H-1B petitions for initial employment saw a slight increase to 2.8% in FY25 from 2.5% in FY24, though this remains lower than the 3.5% in FY23 and far below the 24% denial rate in FY18 during restrictive policies under Donald Trump. For continuing employment, the denial rate was 1.9% in FY25, nearly identical to FY24’s 1.8%, and well below the 12% rates seen in FY18 and FY19. There were 114,806 approvals for initial employment in FY25, including new and concurrent employment, and 291,542 for continuing employment, covering extensions, amendments, and changes of employer.

The average annual salary for an H-1B visa holder in computer-related occupations in FY24 was $136,000, with a median salary of $125,000, according to USCIS statistics. This refutes allegations that H-1B professionals represent “cheap labor.” Furthermore, 63% of approved H-1B beneficiaries in FY24 held a master’s degree or higher, demonstrating that H-1B visa holders are highly skilled professionals. Employers incur substantial costs, with legal and government fees for an initial H-1B petition and extension potentially reaching up to $34,900 over several years, and up to $50,000 when including permanent residence sponsorship.

From a geographic perspective, employers in California (21,559), Texas (12,613), New York (11,436), New Jersey (7,729), and Virginia (7,579) recorded the most approvals for H-1B petitions for initial employment in FY25. New York City led urban areas with 7,811 approvals, followed by Arlington, VA (4,836), Chicago (2,923), San Jose (2,383), Santa Clara (2,286), and San Francisco (2,222).

The top industry for approved new H-1B petitions in FY25 was professional, scientific, and technical services, followed by educational services, healthcare and social assistance, manufacturing, information, and finance and insurance. Economic data contradicts the assumption that foreign-born scientists and engineers displace US workers. NFAP analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicates that the number of US-born workers in computer science and mathematical occupations increased by over 2.7 million (141%) between 2003 and 2024, while total employment in these fields, including foreign-born workers, surged by 166%, illustrating job growth alongside immigration.

Restrictions on H-1B visas risk driving jobs and innovation outside the US. Studies, such as one by Britta Glennon of the Wharton School of Business, conclude that policies aimed at reducing immigration encourage firms to offshore jobs abroad. When US firms are denied H-1B visas, they often establish foreign affiliates and hire talent internationally, impacting US competitiveness. Economist Giovanni Peri and coauthors further suggest that the low annual H-1B limit prevents the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs for US workers by discouraging company investment and other growth mechanisms.