The companies that sponsor H-1B visas are not a secret. Every approval is recorded by the US government, and the same names lead the tables year after year: Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and Apple in big tech; Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Cognizant in IT services; the large banks and consulting networks; and hundreds of universities and hospital systems. The biggest of them receive thousands of H-1B approvals per year when you count new hires, extensions and transfers together.
This article shows who the major sponsors are by sector, how to check any employer yourself using free official data, and how the 2025 rule changes are reshaping which candidates these companies are prepared to sponsor. We deliberately do not publish exact approval counts, because they change every quarter; the official data hub is one click away and always current.
How do we know which companies sponsor H-1B visas?
Two public datasets tell you almost everything:
- USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub. Shows, for each employer and fiscal year, how many H-1B petitions were approved and denied, split between new employment and continuing employment. You can search by company name, city, state or industry code. Find it under “Tools” and “Reports and Studies” on uscis.gov.
- Department of Labor LCA disclosure data. Every H-1B requires a certified Labor Condition Application, and the Office of Foreign Labor Certification publishes the records quarterly. They include the job title, work location and offered wage. Look for “Performance Data” on dol.gov.
Commercial sites that rank “top H-1B sponsors” are repackaging these two sources. They are convenient, but an LCA is not a visa: companies file several LCAs for the same worker when locations change, so LCA counts overstate real hiring. Use the USCIS approvals figure when you want to know how many people a company actually sponsored.
Which companies sponsor the most H-1B visas?
The table groups well-known, consistent sponsors by sector. Inclusion here reflects their long public filing history. It does not mean any of them is hiring for a specific role today or will sponsor a particular candidate, so always check the company’s official careers page.
| Sector | Well-known sponsors | Typical sponsored roles | Cap status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big tech | Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Oracle, Intel, Cisco, IBM, Salesforce, Qualcomm | Software engineers, applied scientists, hardware engineers, product and program managers, data engineers | Cap-subject |
| IT services and consulting | Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Cognizant, Wipro, HCL, Tech Mahindra, Capgemini, Accenture | Developers, systems analysts, QA engineers, SAP and cloud consultants | Cap-subject |
| Professional services | Deloitte, EY, PwC, KPMG, McKinsey | Consultants, auditors, tax and risk specialists, data analysts | Cap-subject |
| Banking and finance | JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citi, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Capital One, Fidelity | Quantitative analysts, software engineers, risk modelers, financial analysts | Cap-subject |
| Retail, automotive and industry | Walmart, Tesla, Ford, General Motors, Boeing | Software, data, mechanical and electrical engineers, supply chain analysts | Cap-subject |
| Universities and academic medicine | Large research universities, their medical schools and affiliated teaching hospitals | Postdocs, research scientists, faculty, physicians, biostatisticians | Cap-exempt |
Big tech: Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and Apple
Amazon has been the single largest sponsor in recent years, across its retail technology, Amazon Web Services and operations research arms. Google, Meta, Microsoft and Apple each sponsor large numbers too, overwhelmingly for engineering and research roles based in Seattle, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York and Austin. These companies pay well above Level II prevailing wages for most technical roles, which matters under the new selection system.
They also run formal immigration programs: outside counsel handles the petition, the company pays the fees, and most begin the green card process within a defined period after you join. That said, large layoffs since 2022 have shown that sponsorship does not protect your job, and the 60-day grace period after a layoff is short.
IT services firms
The Indian-heritage IT services companies and global consultancies historically filed the largest volumes of registrations, placing staff at client sites around the US. Their new-hire approvals have fallen in recent years as they recruit more locally, and the wage-weighted selection is expected to reduce them further because many of their roles are filed at lower wage levels. If you already work for one of these firms abroad, an internal transfer on an L-1 visa may be more realistic than H-1B.
Banks, consultancies and the Big Four
Finance and professional services firms sponsor steadily, mostly candidates they have hired from US master’s programs in finance, analytics, accounting and computer science. Campus recruitment is the main door. Note that some consulting and accounting roles are harder to qualify as specialty occupations if the degree requirement is broad, so these employers tend to sponsor people with clearly relevant degrees.
Universities, hospitals and research institutes
These employers are exempt from the annual cap, so they can sponsor at any time of year without the lottery. Individually they file fewer petitions than Amazon, but collectively they are a very large group, and they recruit internationally as a matter of routine. We explain the cap-exempt strategy in our H-1B jobs, lottery dates and salary guide.
How are the 2025 changes affecting corporate sponsorship?
Two developments are reshaping employer behavior, and both are still evolving:
- The $100,000 payment. A September 2025 presidential proclamation requires this payment with many new H-1B petitions for workers outside the US. USCIS guidance indicates it generally does not apply to people already in the US changing or extending status. Large employers have responded by concentrating sponsorship on international students graduating from US universities and on existing H-1B holders who want to transfer. The measure is subject to litigation and may change.
- Wage-weighted selection. DHS has moved from a random lottery to one that favors higher Department of Labor wage levels. Employers paying senior-level salaries gain; high-volume, lower-wage filers lose.
For you, the message is clear. If you are abroad, the most sponsor-friendly doors are cap-exempt institutions, multinational transfers, and a US degree followed by OPT. If you are already in the US, big employers remain very much in the market for you.
How to check whether a company sponsors, step by step
- Open the USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub and search the employer’s legal name. Try variations: “Amazon.com Services LLC”, “Amazon Web Services Inc” and so on are listed separately.
- Look at “new employment” approvals for the last two or three fiscal years. Rising or stable numbers suggest an active program; a sharp fall suggests a freeze.
- Check the denial rate. A high share of denials can indicate weak petitions or a business model under scrutiny.
- Download the DOL LCA file for the most recent quarter and filter by employer. You will see real job titles, cities and offered wages for roles like yours.
- Compare the wages with the prevailing wage levels for that occupation and location, so you know which level a typical offer reaches.
- Confirm on the careers page. Many application forms ask “Will you now or in the future require sponsorship?” and some job adverts state that sponsorship is not available for that role.
Our broader method for building a target list, including LinkedIn filters and seasonal visa listings, is in how to find visa sponsorship jobs in the USA.
How do you get hired by a top H-1B sponsor?
Sponsorship is a by-product of being the candidate they want. Practical points:
- Apply through the official careers site and, where possible, through an employee referral. Referrals are the most reliable way to get a recruiter screen at large tech firms.
- Prepare for the format. Big tech interviews test data structures, algorithms and system design, plus structured behavioral questions. Banks add quantitative and market questions.
- Consider the global route. Many of these companies have large offices in Canada, the UK, Ireland, Germany, India, Singapore and Poland. Joining abroad and transferring later on L-1, or moving to the US once the rules settle, is a common path. See our guides to software development jobs in Germany and UK tech visa sponsorship.
- Time it right. For cap-subject employers, you need an offer accepted well before the March registration window.
What salaries do H-1B sponsors pay?
Every H-1B worker must be paid at least the prevailing wage for the occupation and area, or the actual wage paid to comparable colleagues if higher. In practice, LCA data shows large technology companies commonly offering six-figure base salaries for software engineering roles in major metro areas, with IT services roles and smaller-city jobs lower. Base salary is what counts for the LCA and for wage-level weighting; stock grants and bonuses do not.
Rather than rely on averages, pull the employer’s own LCA records for your job title. It is the closest thing to a published pay scale you will find, and it gives you a factual basis for negotiation.
How do scammers misuse big company names?
Fraudsters often impersonate well-known sponsors. They send offer letters with copied logos from free email accounts, then ask for a “visa processing fee” or “H-1B deposit”. Real employers never charge candidates for a job offer or for sponsorship, interview you properly before any offer, and communicate from their corporate domain. If in doubt, contact the company through its official website and verify the recruiter’s name. Any lawyer you deal with should be licensed by a US state bar.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do these companies also sponsor green cards?
Most large sponsors do, usually under EB-2 or EB-3 through the PERM process, and often start within the first year or two of employment. Policies differ by company and job level, and some paused PERM filings during layoffs, so ask the recruiter what the current policy is before you accept.
Do startups and small companies sponsor H-1B visas?
Yes. Thousands of small employers appear in the data hub with one or two approvals. They must show they can pay the offered wage and that the role genuinely needs a degree. Smaller companies pay reduced USCIS fees in some categories, but many lack experience with the process, so expect to explain it.
Does past sponsorship mean a company will sponsor me?
No. It shows the company has the legal infrastructure and willingness in general. Sponsorship decisions are made per role and per candidate, and many big sponsors exclude certain job families or junior levels.
Can I see exactly what a company paid its H-1B workers?
You can see the wage the employer stated on each LCA, along with the job title and work location, in the Labor Department’s disclosure files. It is the offered base wage or range at the time of filing, not the total compensation.
Is an L-1 transfer a good alternative at multinationals?
Often, yes. L-1 has no annual cap or lottery and is available after one continuous year working for the same corporate group abroad in a managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge role. It ties you to that employer, but L-1A managers can qualify for the EB-1C green card category without PERM.
Bottom line
The list of top H-1B sponsors barely changes, but their appetite does. In 2026 the giants are still sponsoring, mainly people already in the US and senior, well-paid hires. Use the USCIS data hub and LCA files to verify any employer, target roles at the wage levels that now win selection, and remember that the cap-exempt and global-transfer doors stay open when the lottery does not go your way.