United States

Work visas

H-1B and the other temporary work visas. A visa stamp, a petition approval, and a certified job slot are three different counts. They are shown separately.

H-1B visas issued, FY 2024
219,659
H-2A visas issued, FY 2024
315,328
H-1B petitions approved, FY 2025
406,348
Of those, born in India
69.8%
Visas issued abroad
State Department stamps for the principal worker, fiscal years 2020–2024. FY 2024 principal-worker stamps across all ten classes below: 796,745.
H-2AH-1BH-2BL-1O-1TN
Principal workers, FY 2024
Ranked by visas issued. The bar is the class’s share of the largest class that year (H-2A).
ClassWho it is forIssuedRelative
H-2A
Agricultural worker
No annual cap
315,328
H-1B
Specialty occupation
85,000 new cap-subject slots (65,000 + 20,000 with a U.S. advanced degree). Universities and related nonprofits are cap-exempt. Extensions do not use a new slot.
219,659
H-2B
Seasonal non-agricultural worker
66,000 statutory, plus supplemental visas in recent years
139,541
L-1
Intracompany transferee
No annual cap
71,799
O-1
Extraordinary ability
No annual cap
19,457
TN
USMCA professional (Mexico and Canada)
No annual cap. Most Canadians apply at the border and never receive a visa stamp.
15,672
R-1
Religious worker
No annual cap
5,186
E-3
Australian specialty occupation
10,500
3,933
E-3R
Returning Australian specialty worker
Counts against the E-3 limit
3,100
H-1B1
Chile and Singapore specialty worker
1,400 Chile + 5,400 Singapore
3,070
Family members issued visas, FY 2024
These are not principal workers. Some spouses in H-4, L-2, and E-3D status can work.
ClassWho it is forIssued
H-4
Spouse or child of H-1B, H-1B1, H-2, or H-3
No separate cap. Some H-4 spouses can get an employment card.
139,874
L-2
Spouse or child of L-1
L-2 spouses are work-authorized incident to status.
73,317
TD
Spouse or child of TN
Not work-authorized
12,199
O-3
Spouse or child of O-1 or O-2
Not work-authorized
6,035
E-3D
Spouse or child of E-3
E-3 spouses can work.
3,574
H-1B approvals by country of birth, FY 2025
406,348 petitions approved. 69.8% of beneficiaries were born in India and 12.1% in China. India is 50.3% of initial employment and 77.6% of continuing employment.
RankCountry of birthApprovalsShare
1India283,77269.8%
2China49,16112.1%
3Philippines5,5461.4%
4Canada4,3821.1%
5South Korea4,1951.0%
6Mexico3,3900.8%
7Pakistan3,3800.8%
8Taiwan3,1610.8%
9Brazil2,8760.7%
10Nigeria2,4200.6%
All other places44,06510.8%
New H-1B job versus an extension
FY 2025 approvals. Continuing employment is an extension, amendment, or employer change.
TypeApprovalsShare
Initial employment114,80628.3%
Continuing employment291,54271.7%
Education of H-1B beneficiaries
FY 2025. Degree held at approval, not necessarily a U.S. degree.
DegreeApprovalsShare
Master's233,77957.5%
Bachelor's123,82430.5%
Doctorate33,0908.1%
Professional14,9343.7%
Below a bachelor's3810.1%
Unknown3400.1%
Certified jobs by state
Fiscal year 2025, from the Labor Department’s case files. H-1B is positions on applications still marked Certified. H-2A and H-2B are workers on applications DOL certified, including partial certifications. An application that lists several worksites is counted entirely in the first state. A certified slot is permission for an employer to petition. It is not a visa stamp and not a person admitted. The H-1B map is H-1B only, so its state totals sit below the combined H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 figures in the table that follows.

H-1B positions by state

H-1B positions certified in FY 2025. The color follows the log of the count, so states across the range stay visible.

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H-1B positions
240200,886
Source: DOL OFLC case disclosure, FY 2025 (primary worksite). Population: Census Bureau, July 1, 2024.

Hover or select a state. The H-1B total across the 50 states and D.C. is 880,465 positions.

Map color
StateH-1B positionsPer 100,000Share
California200,88650922.8%
Texas124,56739814.1%
Washington80,59410139.2%
New York77,8223928.8%
Illinois50,2803965.7%
New Jersey32,7123443.7%
North Carolina28,1662553.2%
Massachusetts26,6263733.0%
Georgia25,4212272.9%
Virginia21,7082462.5%
Florida21,51692.12.4%
Pennsylvania18,7651432.1%
Michigan16,1701591.8%
Ohio15,3181291.7%
Utah12,0593441.4%
Arizona11,9431581.4%
Maryland10,1021611.1%
Connecticut9,4582571.1%
Tennessee8,4471171.0%
Colorado8,1591370.9%
Indiana7,5671090.9%
Missouri7,4651200.8%
Minnesota7,2861260.8%
Oregon6,8141590.8%
Wisconsin6,1841040.7%
Arkansas4,3171400.5%
District of Columbia3,4384900.4%
South Carolina3,21358.60.4%
Delaware2,9052760.3%
Louisiana2,76460.10.3%
Iowa2,70883.50.3%
New Hampshire2,6731900.3%
Kentucky2,62057.10.3%
Kansas2,36979.70.3%
Nevada2,02862.10.2%
Rhode Island2,0041800.2%
Nebraska1,95397.40.2%
Alabama1,90036.80.2%
New Mexico1,60375.20.2%
Oklahoma1,57638.50.2%
Idaho1,02551.20.1%
Vermont8741350.1%
Mississippi85128.90.1%
West Virginia80045.20.1%
South Dakota58563.30.1%
North Dakota52666.00.1%
Maine50035.60.1%
Alaska41055.40.0%
Hawaii29820.60.0%
Montana25022.00.0%
Wyoming24040.80.0%
Certified jobs by county
The same fiscal year, counted at the county of the first worksite. Hover a county for the H-1B, H-2A, and H-2B breakdown. Where a filing left the county blank, the worksite ZIP is assigned to the county it overlaps most.

H-1B positions by county

Certified positions in FY 2025, at the county of the first worksite. The color follows the log of the count, so counties across the range stay visible.

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H-1B positions
01
No dataSource: DOL OFLC case disclosure, FY 2025 (worksite). Population: Census Bureau, July 1, 2024 (Connecticut counties, July 1, 2021).
Color

Fiscal year 2025, from the Labor Department’s case files. H-1B counts positions on certified Labor Condition Applications. H-2A and H-2B count workers DOL certified, including partial certifications. An application that lists several worksites is counted in the first county. A certified slot is permission for an employer to petition. It is not a visa stamp and not a person admitted. Hover a county for all three counts. Where the filing left the county blank, the worksite ZIP is assigned to the county it overlaps most.

Where specialty-occupation jobs are certified
Department of Labor certified 910,968 H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 positions in FY 2025, on 561,505 applications. A position is a slot an employer asked to fill. It is not a person admitted, and many certified slots are never used. California alone is 22.8% of certified positions.
Occupations certified
Top occupations among FY 2025 certified LCA positions.
NamePositionsShareRelative
Software developers286,28731.4%
IT project managers35,8533.9%
Computer systems engineers33,8223.7%
Physical therapists32,8153.6%
Electronics engineers32,4343.6%
Software QA analysts and testers28,5293.1%
Data scientists28,0703.1%
Occupational therapists26,6062.9%
Computer and information systems managers23,1652.5%
Business intelligence analysts19,6652.2%
Employers filing those slots
Top employers by certified positions. One company can file under more than one tax ID; the Labor Department counts each ID separately.
NamePositionsShareRelative
Amazon.com Services LLC60,0366.6%
Grandison Management, Inc.57,8406.3%
NVIDIA Corporation45,7125.0%
Microsoft Corporation20,6862.3%
Oracle America, Inc.17,9482.0%
Infosys Limited16,3281.8%
Amazon Web Services, Inc.15,9351.7%
Apple, Inc.14,3161.6%
Cisco Systems, Inc.13,6091.5%
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC11,2791.2%
Petition decisions so far in FY 2026
USCIS initial decisions from October 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026. This is not a full year. H-1B approvals here are mostly one worker each. An H-2A or H-2B approval can cover many workers, so those rows are petitions, not people.
ClassWho it is forReceivedApprovedDeniedApproval rate
H-1BSpecialty occupation312,830270,4198,23197.0%
H-2AAgricultural worker27,23325,92649998.1%
OExtraordinary ability and support25,72221,3212,09691.0%
L-1AIntracompany manager or executive20,76616,9291,62491.2%
H-2BSeasonal non-agricultural worker12,83212,53516098.7%
TNUSMCA professional12,41110,77557494.9%
L-1BIntracompany specialized knowledge11,2969,36789691.3%
R-1Religious worker7,9636,60028195.9%
PAthlete, artist, or entertainer7,5996,58961491.5%
Blanket LBlanket intracompany petition9989711998.1%

How to read the three counts. A visa issuance is a stamp from a consulate. Canadians usually skip that step for H-1B, L-1, and TN, and so does anyone already in the United States who extends or changes status. An H-1B petition approval counts a new job and an extension the same way. The cap limits new cap-subject slots, not the stock of people already here. A certified LCA position is permission for an employer to file; FY 2025 certifications (910,968) are more than twice the H-1B petitions USCIS approved in FY 2025 (406,348). India-born workers are 69.8% of those approvals.

  • Visa issuances, FY 2020–2024. U.S. Department of State, Report of the Visa Office 2024, Table XV(B). Principal worker symbols are H-1B, H-1B1, H-2A, H-2B, L-1, O-1, E-3, E-3R, TN, and R-1. Dependent symbols are H-4, L-2, O-3, TD, and E-3D. Posts cut routine visa services in March 2020 and restored them gradually, so FY 2020 and FY 2021 are low.
  • H-1B approvals by country of birth, FY 2025. USCIS, Characteristics of H-1B Specialty Occupation Workers, Fiscal Year 2025 (April 24, 2026). Country counts are Figure 1. The report’s total is 406,348. Figure 1’s “other” line is 43,628; the ten countries in Figure 1 plus that line fall 437 short of the total, and Table 1a lists India at 284,106 rather than 283,772. This page keeps Figure 1’s country counts and puts the residual in “all other.” Initial and continuing employment are Tables 1b and 1c. Education is Table 2.
  • Petition decisions, FY 2026 through June. USCIS, Nonimmigrant Worker Petitions by Case Status and Request for Evidence, Fiscal Year 2026 Quarter 3. Initial approvals and denials only. Includes extensions. Queried July 2026.
  • Certified specialty-occupation positions, FY 2025. Department of Labor, Office of Foreign Labor Certification, LCA (H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3) Selected Statistics, FY 2025. Positions certified, by state of employment, occupation, and employer. Not a count of people admitted.
  • State map, FY 2025. Department of Labor, OFLC public disclosure files. H-1B positions are TOTAL_WORKER_POSITIONS on Labor Condition Applications whose latest status is Certified, visa class H-1B, summed across the four FY 2025 quarterly files with duplicate case numbers kept once. H-2A workers are TOTAL_WORKERS_H2A_CERTIFIED and H-2B workers are TOTAL_WORKERS_CERTIFIED on FY 2025 determinations whose status contains Certification, including partial and returned certifications. Each application is assigned to WORKSITE_STATE, the primary worksite, so additional worksites are not split out. Puerto Rico and other territories are left off the map. The 50 states and D.C. sum to 880,465 H-1B positions, 397,259 H-2A workers, and 231,746 H-2B workers. DOL’s selected statistics, which use a slightly different cut, publish 910,968 certified H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 positions and 398,258 H-2A workers. Population is the Census Bureau’s July 1, 2024 state resident estimate, table NST-EST2024-POP.