Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft top list of H-1B petition approvals for 1st time amid AI push — Key findings

Big technology companies in the United States, including Amazon, Google, Meta Platforms and Microsoft, had the most approved H-1B visa petitions for initial employment in FY25, according to an analysis of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP). 

NFAP, a non-partisan public policy research organisation based in Arlington, Virginia, analysed data from the USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub.

How many H-1B approvals did big tech companies have in FY25?

• The NFAP report showed that among the big four, Amazon had 4,644 approved H-1B petitions for initial employment in FY25 — the highest for any company.
• It was followed by Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Platforms with 1,555 approvals.
• Microsoft had 1,394 approved H-1 B visa petitions. 
• Google had 1,050 approved H-1 B visa applicants. 

The report added that the bulk of the hiring by these four tech companies was linked to their $380 billion spend on artificial intelligence (AI) and related expenditure in 2025.

These numbers do not represent individual employees, since an H-1B visa holder may be approved multiple times for continuing employment during the same year if they change locations. Additionally, the NFAP report noted that initial and continuing employment for employers similarly creates a distorted picture, the NFAP report said. 

How have Indian companies fared in H-1B approvals?

Notably, this is the first time that these US companies have all held the top spots for H-1B petition approvals. BY contrast, only three Indian companies made the top 25 employers with H-1B approvals in FY25.

In FY25, the top seven Indian companies had only 4,573 H-1B petitions approved for initial employment, a 70% drop from FY15 and 37% fewer than FY24.

H-1B approval rate ‘too low’ say experts

H-1B petitions for initial employment are primarily for new hires. They are counted against the annual 65,000 cap, with an additional 20,000 reserved for those individuals holding master's degrees or higher from US universities, bringing the annual total to 85,000. Around 700,000 people live and work in the US with H-1B status, the analysis noted.

Analysts feel the 85,000 limit is low and equals only 0.05% of the US labour force. Data for FY25 also showed that the US had 442,000 unique beneficiaries enter the H-1B registration process (selection is by lottery) but rejected over 300,000 applications due to the limit, the NFAP analysis added.

Key findings in NFAP analysis: A look into the US job market

• A significant number of employers use H-1B visas: 28,277 different employers in the US were approved to hire at least one new H-1B visa holder in FY 2025, primarily because an H-1B petition or visa is usually the only way to hire a high-skilled foreign national in America. Of these, 61% of employers were approved for a single H-1B petition, and 95% were approved for 10 or fewer new H-1B petitions in FY 2025. Over half of new H-1B petitions went to employers with 15 or fewer approvals for H-1B petitions for initial employment, and 72% went to employers with 100 or fewer approvals.
• A total of 68,167 H-1B petitions were approved for individuals to change to a new employer. That large a number calls into question allegations that H-1B visa holders are “indentured servants.” Counting individuals approved for H-1B petitions for initial employment, more than one-third, or 37%, of H-1B professionals who started working for a new company or organisation in FY25 transferred from another employer.
• The denial rate for H-1B petitions for initial employment rose to 2.8% in FY25 from 2.5% in FY24. That was lower than the 3.5% rate in FY23 but above the 2.2% rate in FY22. There were 114,806 approvals for initial employment in FY25, which include new and concurrent employment (when an H-1B visa holder works for a second employer concurrently). The denial rate for H-1B petitions for initial employment reached 24% in FY18 during Donald Trump’s first term, due to restrictive policies that were later struck down in court, leading to a settlement.
• The denial rate for H-1B petitions for “continuing” employment (primarily for existing employees) was 1.9% in FY25, almost identical to the denial rate of 1.8% in FY24, and lower than the 2.4% rate in FY23. These rates are far below the 12% denial rate in FY18 and FY19 during the first Trump administration. There were 291,542 approvals for H-1B petitions for continuing employment in FY25. H-1B petitions for continuing employment include an extension of stay with the same employer, an amended petition (such as for a change in location or job responsibilities) with the same employer and a change of employer.
• The average annual salary for an H-1B visa holder in computer-related occupations in FY24 was $136,000, and the median salary was $125,000, according to USCIS statistics, which is at odds with the charge by some that H-1B professionals represent “cheap labor.”

• In FY24, 63% of approved H-1B beneficiaries earned a master’s degree or higher, according to USCIS. The education levels indicate that H-1B visa holders represent highly skilled professionals.
• In addition to paying the required wages, legal and government fees to file an initial H-1B petition and an extension could cost employers up to $34,900 over a number of years, and as high as $50,000, once including the additional cost of sponsoring an employee for permanent residence, according to an NFAP analysis.
• Absent significant changes in government policies, high denial rates are unusual since employers would be unlikely to apply for H-1B petitions for individuals who do not qualify, given the time and expense. During Trump’s first term, restrictive policy changes increased the denial rate for H-1B petitions for initial employment to 24% in FY18, 21% in FY19 and 13% in FY20 before a legal settlement in 2020 lowered denial rates below pre-Trump levels.
• The unemployment rate for computer and mathematical occupations dropped from 3.4% to 3.0% between August 2024 and August 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate for architecture and engineering occupations fell from 1.7% to 1.4% between August 2024 and August 2025.
• Employers in California (21,559), Texas (12,613), New York (11,436), New Jersey (7,729) and Virginia (7,579) had the most approvals for H-1B petitions for initial employment in FY25. New York, with 7,811, was the city with the most approved H-1B petitions for initial employment in FY25, followed by Arlington, VA (4,836), Chicago (2,923), San Jose (2,383), Santa Clara (2,286) and San Francisco (2,222).

• Top industry type 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.
• Data and economics indicate it is a mistake to assume a fixed number of jobs and that foreign-born scientists and engineers prevent US engineers and computer specialists from gaining jobs. The number of US-born workers employed in computer science and mathematical occupations increased by over 2.7 million, or 141%, between 2003 and 2024, according to a NFAP analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
• Employment in computer and mathematical occupations in the US, including the foreign-born, increased by 166% between 2003 and 2024, illustrating that there is not a fixed number of jobs and employment in the technology sector surged while many foreign-born scientists and engineers immigrated. The number of US-born workers employed in all STEM-related occupations (including computer and mathematical occupations) increased by over 3 million, or 50%, between 2003 and 2024.
• Restrictions on H-1B visas likely drive jobs and innovation outside of the US. “[A]ny policies that are motivated by concerns about the loss of native jobs should consider that policies aimed at reducing immigration have the unintended consequence of encouraging firms to offshore jobs abroad,” concluded a study by Britta Glennon, an assistant professor at the Wharton School of Business at UPENN. “When US firms are denied H-1Bs, they go abroad, setting up new foreign affiliates and hiring talent there instead of in the US,” said Glennon. “For the most global multinational companies, this is at almost a 1:1 rate. The results demonstrate an important unintended consequence of immigration restrictions: the movement of jobs and talent abroad, with major implications for US competitiveness.”
• Economist Giovanni Peri and coauthors of the NFAP report found the low annual H-1B limit prevents employers from creating hundreds of thousands of jobs for US workers by discouraging company investment and other means.