The number of first-time H-1B visa applications approved for major Indian IT companies has fallen drastically to just 4,573 --the lowest in the last 10 years. As compared to 2015, the figure has gone down substantially by 70 per cent and by 37 per cent as compared to 2024.
According to data collected by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) H-1B Employer Data Hub, new H-1B approvals for leading Indian IT service providers witnessed a dramatic fall.
The only Indian organisation in the top five US employers of H-1B workers was Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). It managed to get the lion's share among the top seven IT firms, according to The Times of India.
Compared to 1,452 in 2024 and 1,174 in 2023, TCS obtained 846 initial employment clearances in FY 2025. In contrast, TCS reported 5,293 approvals for "continuing-employment," which covers visa renewals for current H-1B holders.
However, their extension rejection rate increased to 7 per cent (from 4 per cent in 2024). The overall firm-wide continuing-employment rejection rate remained low at 1.9 per cent.
This sharp decline in new H-1B entries, along with rising rejections or fall in initial employment files, points to a larger structural shift in the way overseas tech recruitment is conducted.
According to the survey, employers are putting more emphasis on keeping current employees in the United States instead of recruiting new talent from elsewhere.
The top four slots for new H-1B approvals are now occupied by US-based digital titans like Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Google for the first time — highlighting the change in the visa environment away from outsourcing-driven Indian companies and towards major American competitors.
The majority of H-1B applications are petitions for continued employment, and most major IT services companies continue to have low rejection rates. The list of the top 25 employers for initial H-1B applications includes only three Indian enterprises.
Rejection rates for continuing-employment petitions ranged from 1 per cent to 2 per cent, according to Infosys, Wipro, and LTIMindtree. However, FY 2025 witnessed a substantial increase in first employment rejections.
TCS has one of the lowest rejection rates among big companies (2 per cent), followed by HCL America (6 per cent), LTIMindtree (5 per cent), and Capgemini (4 per cent).
According to immigration portal Beyond Border, approvals for people categorised as "software engineers" in the labour-certification stage have been declining for four years running.
Labour certifications in this category decreased from 40,378 in 2022 to 23,922 through the third quarter of 2025, according to H1BGrader.
