TL;DR: India accounted for seven in ten H-1B approvals in 2024-25, with its share substantially higher in continuing employment than in initial employment. Computer-related jobs represented 62% of approvals, while Amazon, TCS, Infosys and Apple together accounted for nearly a quarter of the approvals among the top 100 employers in FY2026 through June. These patterns highlight the relevance of recent US immigration changes to Indian professionals and technology employers.

Context

Recent changes to US immigration policy have raised concerns about both access to temporary employment and the route to permanent residency for foreign professionals. In September 2026, the US renewed the $100,000 payment requirement for certain H-1B petitions involving workers outside the country. This followed the introduction of wage-weighted selection for cap-subject H-1B registrations, which gives greater selection weight to higher offered wage levels. Together, these measures change the cost and selection conditions for employers seeking to sponsor eligible workers.

Attention shifted to permanent residency on 8 October 2026, when US officials announced PERM restrictions involving Microsoft, Adobe and six major IT services companies, including TCS and Infosys. According to Reuters, the announcement covered new and pending permanent labour certification applications. PERM is part of an employer-sponsored route to permanent residency, distinct from temporary H-1B employment.

For Indian professionals, these developments raise different questions depending on whether they are seeking initial employment in the US, continuing an existing job or pursuing permanent residency. Examining H-1B approvals by country, occupation and employer helps explain the scale of India’s participation and the prominence of technology jobs and major IT companies. The data provides a starting point for understanding these changes, though it does not establish how many workers will be affected.

Who compiles this data?

H-1B statistics are compiled by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Where can I download clean & structured data related to this?

Clean, structured, and ready-to-use datasets related to H-1B visa approvals and petitions are available on Dataful.

Key Insights

• Continuing employment accounted for nearly three-fourths of all H-1B approvals in 2024-25. Across all countries, approvals totalled 4.06 lakh, comprising 1.15 lakh for initial employment and 2.92 lakh for continuing employment. Compared to 2023-24, initial approvals declined 18.7%, while continuing approvals increased 12.9%. Consequently, combined approvals rose modestly, even as initial approvals fell.

• Indians accounted for nearly 70% of all approvals, with a substantially larger share in continuing employment. Indians accounted for 2.84 lakh approvals in 2024-25, representing 69.9% of the total. Its share was 50.3% of initial approvals and 77.6% of continuing approvals. In the case of Indians, initial approvals fell 28.2% year on year to 0.58 lakh, while continuing approvals rose 11.3% to 2.26 lakh, leaving the combined total almost unchanged. Over the last decade, India’s share of initial approvals declined from 61.8% in 2015-16 to 50.3% in 2024-25.

• Declining initial approvals and rising continuing approvals were also observed for persons from countries like China, the Philippines, and Canada, though their longer-term trends differed. In 2024-25, initial approvals fell by 10.0% for China, 12.0% for the Philippines, 2.5% for Canada and 4.1% for South Korea.

• Continuing approvals increased across all four, with the Philippines recording the strongest growth at 39.1%. Over the last decade, China’s continuing approvals more than doubled, while the Philippines’ initial approvals increased by 148.2%. In the latest year, initial approvals still exceeded continuing approvals for the Philippines and South Korea, while Canada’s two categories were nearly equal.

• Computer-related occupations accounted for nearly two-thirds of H-1B approvals, despite a decline over the last many years. Approvals in this group fell from 2.97 lakh in 2019-20 to 2.52 lakh in 2024-25, a decline of 15.0%. Its share of all approvals decreased from 69.8% to 62.0%, although it remained the largest occupation group by a substantial margin.

• Architecture, engineering and surveying remained the second-largest occupation group throughout the period. Approvals increased from 0.39 lakh in 2019-20 to 0.42 lakh in 2024-25, accounting for 10.4% of the latest year’s total. Together, this group and computer-related occupations represented 72.4% of all approvals in 2024-25.

• Education and health approvals increased, while administrative specialisations also remained prominent. Between 2019-20 and 2024-25, education approvals rose 28.2%, from 0.19 lakh to 0.24 lakh, while medicine and health approvals increased 27.5%, from 0.15 lakh to 0.19 lakh. Administrative specialisations recorded 0.24 lakh approvals in 2024-25. Together, these three groups accounted for 16.7% of the reported total.

• The top four employers accounted for nearly one-fourth of approvals among the top 100 in US fiscal year 2026, as of 30 June. These employers accounted for approximately 0.91 lakh approvals, with Amazon.com Services alone accounting for 10.3%. Together, Amazon, TCS and Infosys represented 19.8% of the total. Including Apple increased their combined share to 24.1%, or approximately 0.22 lakh approvals among the top-100.

• IT services firms featured prominently alongside technology product companies. TCS and Infosys ranked second and third, followed by Apple and Microsoft. Cognizant ranked sixth, while HCL America, LTIMindtree and Wipro also appeared among the top 25. The ranking highlights the presence of both IT services providers and product companies among leading H-1B employers.

• Approvals extended beyond technology companies to finance, retail and manufacturing. JPMorgan Chase ranked ninth, while Walmart and Tesla ranked eleventh and thirteenth, respectively. Their presence shows participation across several industries, although the employer data does not identify the occupations associated with these approvals.

Why does it matter?

India’s large share of H-1B approvals makes changes to US immigration policy particularly relevant to Indian professionals. Their implications differ depending on whether a worker is seeking initial employment, continuing an existing job or pursuing permanent residency. Higher costs for covered petitions could influence employers’ willingness to sponsor workers, while wage-weighted selection favours applicants with higher offered wage levels. PERM restrictions raise separate concerns about permanent residency pathways at the named companies.

The approval trends also show why overall totals need careful interpretation. India’s combined approvals remained almost unchanged in 2024-25, but initial approvals fell sharply as continuing approvals increased. A stable total therefore does not necessarily indicate stable access to initial employment. Computer-related occupations and IT companies feature prominently, making technology professionals central to these developments.

Key Numbers

• 4.06 lakh | Total H-1B approvals, 2024-25

• 69.9% | India’s share of all approvals, 2024-25

• 28.2% ↓ | India’s initial employment approvals, 2023-24 → 2024-25

• 69.8% → 62.0% | Computer-related occupations’ share of approvals, 2019-20 → 2024-25

• 24.1% | Top four employers’ share of approvals among the top 100, FY2026 through 30 June