H-1B Visa Sponsorship by Company

Sponsorship Landscape

Insights from 22,065 LCA filings across 16,125 employers.

What Is an H-1B Visa?

The H-1B is a US non-immigrant work visa for specialty occupations that typically require a bachelor's degree or higher. It covers roles in engineering, finance, science, IT, medicine, and other professional fields. You can't apply for an H-1B yourself. Your employer files a petition with USCIS on your behalf.

Each fiscal year, USCIS issues 85,000 new H-1B visas: 65,000 under the regular cap and 20,000 reserved for applicants with a US master's degree or higher. Demand far exceeds supply. In FY2025, USCIS received over 470,000 registrations for those 85,000 slots. If you're selected in the lottery, your employer then files the full petition.

An H-1B is valid for 3 years, renewable once for a total of 6. After that, you either move to a green card, switch to another status, or leave. For a deeper breakdown, read our guide: What Is an H-1B Visa? The Complete Breakdown.

How H-1B Sponsorship Works

Sponsorship is entirely employer-driven. Here's the process in three steps:

1. LCA filing. The employer submits a Labor Condition Application to the DOL, certifying they'll pay at least the prevailing wage for the role and location.
2. H-1B petition. Once the LCA is certified, the employer files Form I-129 with USCIS. If the role is cap-subject, the worker must first be selected in the annual lottery.
3. Approval and start date. Standard processing takes 3 to 6 months. Premium processing ($2,805 fee) guarantees a response within 15 business days.

The LCA data on this page comes from Step 1. Every LCA filing is public record. That's how we know which employers are actively sponsoring and for which roles. Related: How to Ask a Recruiter About H-1B Sponsorship.

Finding H-1B Sponsors for Your Job Search

Knowing a company has sponsored before doesn't mean they'll sponsor you, but it tells you they have the legal infrastructure and budget to do it. That's a better starting point than guessing.

On the ShouldApply dashboard, every job card shows an H-1B badge if the employer appears in DOL records. You can toggle the "Show H-1B Sponsors" filter to only see jobs from companies with a filing history. The scoring engine also factors sponsorship track record into its fit analysis.

You can also check any specific company with our free H-1B Sponsorship Checker tool, or read the full strategy guide: How to Find H-1B Jobs in 2026.

Explore H-1B Employers by Company

The search grid above indexes 16,125+ employers from DOL records. Click any company card to see its full profile: filing history by year, approval vs. denial breakdown, average sponsored salary, and the specific job titles they've filed for.

If you're targeting big sponsors, look for companies with 100+ filings and approval rates above 95%. These are typically large tech firms (Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta), major consulting companies (Deloitte, Cognizant, Infosys, TCS, Wipro), financial institutions (JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs), and healthcare systems. Their immigration teams process hundreds of petitions per year and have predictable timelines.

Mid-size companies with 10 to 50 filings are worth watching too. They sponsor less often, but there's usually less competition for those slots. Check each company's company profile page for job quality scores and current openings.

Cap-Exempt Employers

Not every H-1B petition goes through the lottery. Cap-exempt employers can file year-round with no cap limit. These include:

• Universities and colleges (as direct employers)
• University-affiliated nonprofit research organizations
• Nonprofit research organizations (e.g., national labs)
• Government research organizations

If you're working at a cap-exempt employer and later transfer to a for-profit company, that new petition becomes cap-subject. You'd need to go through the lottery at that point. For a full breakdown of how cap exemption works and which employers qualify, see: Cap-Exempt H-1B Employers: Who Qualifies and Why It Matters.

Layoffs, Transfers, and the 60-Day Grace Period

If you're laid off on an H-1B, you get a 60-day grace period (or until your visa expires, whichever is sooner). During that window, you can:

• Find a new employer willing to file an H-1B transfer petition
• Change to another visa status (B-1/B-2 tourist, F-1 student, etc.)
• Depart the US before the 60 days expire

The good news: an H-1B transfer doesn't require a new lottery selection. Your new employer files a transfer petition, and you can start working as soon as USCIS receives it (you don't have to wait for approval). Speed matters here. Use the employer data on this page to quickly identify companies with active sponsorship programs in your field.

Read our step-by-step guides: H-1B Layoff Survival Guide and How H-1B Transfers Work.

The OPT-to-H-1B Path

Most international students transition to H-1B through Optional Practical Training (OPT). Here's the typical timeline:

1. Post-graduation OPT gives you 12 months of work authorization in your field of study.
2. STEM OPT extension adds 24 months if your degree qualifies, giving you a total of 36 months.
3. During OPT, your employer registers you for the H-1B lottery (registration opens each March). If selected, your H-1B starts October 1 of that fiscal year.

The STEM extension is critical. It gives you up to three chances at the H-1B lottery instead of one. When evaluating employers, look for companies on this page that have a consistent multi-year filing history. That signals they understand the OPT-to-H-1B timeline and won't be surprised by the process.

H-1B Policy Updates

H-1B rules change frequently. USCIS updates filing procedures, fee structures, and lottery mechanics on a regular basis. Recent developments include the beneficiary-centric lottery system (designed to reduce duplicate registrations), increased premium processing fees, and proposed changes to the definition of "specialty occupation."

We track these changes and update our data accordingly. When USCIS adjusts the registration process or DOL changes prevailing wage methodologies, those shifts show up in the filing patterns you see on this page. Companies that reduce their filings may be responding to policy tightening, higher fees, or internal budget cuts.

For context on what "unable to sponsor" actually means in a job posting, read: What Does "Unable to Sponsor Visa" Mean?.