70-hour work week pays off? This Indian IT firm leads in H-1B Visas approvals

Indian IT firms in 2024 had secured one-fifth of the total H-1B visas issued by the United States, according to data published by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). I-T giants like Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, HCL, Wipro, Tech Mahindra were among the top beneficiaries. Jeff Bezos’ Amazon remained the highest receiver of H-1B visa approvals in 2024.

The H-1B non-immigrant visa program permits temporary employment of foreign skilled workers in the United States.

Between April and September last year, a whopping 24,766 of the 130,000 H-1B visas were granted to Indian-origin companies alone, according to USCIS data.

Which I-T company had the highest share in that? Was it Infosys? Was is TCS? Was it Wipro, Tech Mahindra, or Cognizant?

According to the USCIS data, Narayana Murthy’s Infosys bagged a total of 8,140 H-1B visas in 2024 alone. This was the highest an Indian I-T company received in a year. Infosys came second to Amazon in 2024.

Infosys was followed by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) – 5,274 visas, HCL America – 2,953, Wipro – 1,634 visas, and Tech Mahindra – 1,199 visas.

Top Companies with Highest H-1B visa approvals in 2024

• Amazon – 9,265 approvals
• Infosys – 8,140 approvals
• Cognizant – 6,321 approvals
• Google – 5,364 approvals
• TCS – 5,274 approvals
• Meta Platforms – 4,844 approvals
• Microsoft – 4,725 approvals
• Apple – 3,873 approvals
• HCL America – 2,953 approvals
• IBM Corporation – 2,906 approvals

According to Pew report, India remains the top nation for H-1B visa recipients. Since 2010, Indian workers have consistently got the majority of H-1B visas.

In 2023, 73 per cent of approved H-1B visa applicants were from India, followed by China with 12 per cent. No other country could get more than 2 per cent of the H-1B visa approvals, the report added.

In 2024, 65 per cent of the H-1B visa approvals (258,196 applications) were renewals, while 35 per cent (141,207 applications) were for new employment.

Trump Govt Implements Changes to H-1B visa

The Donald Trump administration is implementing changes to the H-1B visa program, potentially impacting how IT companies recruit skilled foreign workers.

Starting March 20, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) rolled out a revamped system designed to be more transparent and efficient.

These reforms include deleting H-1B records older than five years from the Foreign Labor Access Gateway (FLAG) system and wiping all temporary labour condition applications.

One significant change is the new selection method, where USCIS will select beneficiaries rather than applications, preventing large firms from overwhelming the system with multiple filings for the same individual.

The registration fee has increased from $10 to $215.

The entire process is moving online to streamline operations.

These changes are expected to create a fairer selection process, increase costs for employers, and speed up processing times.

The registration window for the fiscal year 2026 H-1B visa lottery opened on March 7, 2025, and closed on March 24, 2025.

Deleting H-1B Visa records

The US Department of Labor has began deleting H-1B visas and other visa applications from their records, older than five years from the Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) system.

This move will make it difficult for applicants and legal representatives to retrieve these details.

The FLAG system is a portal that assists US companies in locating competent workers while guaranteeing both domestic and international worker protections. It contains all applications for temporary labor conditions, including those for the H-1B, H-1B1, and even permanent labor certification (PERM) visas.