The H-1B landscape for Indian IT firms is shifting fast. In FY 2025, the top seven Indian IT companies received only 4,573 approvals for initial employment.
A national newspaper that published this data revealed a 70% drop from the figures 10 years ago. It attributed the numbers to National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) while claiming that the numbers were 37% lower than that in 2024.
The data, drawn from the USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub, shows a trend: TCS is the only Indian IT services firm in the top five employers for new H-1B workers.
TCS also remains the only Indian company in the top five for continuing-employment approvals.
Yet the picture is mixed.
Its rejection rate for extensions rose to 7%, up from 4% in 2024, and higher than that of its peers. By comparison, USCIS recorded a 1.9% rejection rate overall for continuing employment. In 2025, TCS secured 5,293 approvals for continued employment. For initial employment, the company received 846 approvals, compared with 1,452 in 2024 and 1,174 in 2023, with a 2% rejection rate this year.
The NFAP report points to a dramatic reshuffling. Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Google now hold the top four spots for new H-1B approvals—something not seen before.
Only three India-based companies appear in the top 25 employers for initial H-1B petitions. Most filings still relate to continuing employment, where rejection rates stay low. Infosys, Wipro, and LTIMindtree reported 1%–2% rejection rates for continuing-employment petitions. But initial-employment denials climbed sharply in FY 2025.
Among larger employers, TCS had one of the lowest rejection rates at 2%. HCL America recorded 6%, LTIMindtree 5%, and Capgemini 4%. Companies are now focused on keeping their existing employees legally employed. The H-1B programme has become more of a holding pattern for workers waiting in the green card queue, industry experts revealed.
A parallel controversy has added tension to the debate. A US economist has alleged industrial-scale fraud targeting Indian H-1B visas, sparking a new round of scrutiny.
Beyond Border, an immigration platform, notes four straight years of declining approvals for people classified as “software engineers” during labour certification. The trend extends beyond visa adjudication into labour assessments.
According to H1BGrader, labour certifications for “software engineer” roles fell from 40,378 in 2022 to 23,922 through Q3 2025. These rejection rates may reflect longer-term scrutiny of the programme, especially for software engineering and tech roles, said experts.
Restrictive-policy advocates often argue that foreign-born scientists and engineers serve as “cheap labour.” But USCIS data shows something different. In FY 2024, H-1B professionals in computer-related occupations earned an average salary of $136,000 and a median of $125,000.
And 63% of approved H-1B beneficiaries held a master’s degree or higher. The numbers suggest that the programme continues to attract highly skilled talent sought after in the US and worldwide.
Also Read: Trump’s H-1B Fee Hits Indian Tech Workers Hard, US Firms Turn To Local Hiring https://www.vibesofindia.com/trumps-h-1b-fee-hits-indian-tech-workers-hard-us-firms-turn-to-local-hiring/
