Massive Drop in H-1B Visa Approvals: Top Indian Companies Lagging Behind
The leading India-based companies are witnessing a breathtaking drop in the number of H-1B visa approvals in FY25. This striking drop has been recorded and noted by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) analysis of the USCIS data.
According to the analysis, the top seven Indian-based companies had as few as 4,573 H-1B visa petitions approved for initial employment in the fiscal year of 2025. In other words, this means a 70% drop from FY 2015 and a 37% drop from FY 2024.
This is a crucial piece of news as it reveals a clear demographic of the US job market and what the foreign talent can expect from building a career in the U.S. As always, our EB-1A consultants have analysed this news in detail to summarise all the important updates.
What did the report say?
The report by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) indicates a record drop in H-1B approvals for Indian companies.
Here is what the report stated: “H-1B petitions for initial employment are primarily for new employment, which, for companies, are cases counted against the H-1B annual limit of 65,000, with an exemption of 20,000 for individuals with master’s degrees or higher from a US university.”
Under these set conditions, the report revealed that only three Indian-based companies in FY25 were in the leaderboard of employers, consisting of the top 25 companies with the most approved H-1B visa petitions.
Comparison between Indian companies and Amazon, Google, and Meta
The analysis also revealed that Amazon, Google, and Meta did way better than the India-based companies in terms of H-1B visa approvals. Amazon alone got the most H-1B visa approvals for initial employment in FY25 at a striking 4,644. In this report, Meta platform has secured a second place, boasting a total of 1,555 H-1B visa approvals in the last financial year. Microsoft had around 1,394 visa petitions approved, securing third place. And, last but not least, Google secured a fourth place among the industry giants, scoring a 1,050 approved H-1B visas.
In essence, the multinational tech giants are topping the H-1B leaderboards. But what about the Indian-based companies? Stuart Anderson, the executive director of NFAP, has explained what these numbers mean. According to him, these numbers demonstrate that the Indian-based companies are now shifting more and more towards using a minimal number of H-1B visas.
What does the report mean for broader job demographics in the U.S.?
Newsweek has quoted Stuart Anderson on the following issue: “The numbers show Indian-based companies now deliver IT services to US businesses using relatively few H-1B visas, while the largest US technology companies are hiring many individuals, including recent foreign-born graduate students from US universities, to help build AI in the United States after investing several hundred billion dollars to develop artificial intelligence.”
This report, in essence, shows that H-1B vocations are more likely to be available for experts applying to these major tech giants. The report has also stated that as many as 28,227 different employers in the United States received approval for hiring at least one new H-1B visa holder in the FY25. Among all these employers, 95% were approved for more than one new H-1B Visa application.
Hence, though the H-1B Approval remains widespread across all sizes of businesses, it is important to note that the Indian-based companies are relying more and more on the local workforce than foreign talent.
Our EB-1A consultants are staying eagle-eyed on the current immigration landscape. For more updates, analysis, and insights, stay tuned to our blog section. You can also directly reach out to us for any immigration/green card-related queries.
Sources & Further Readings
- Das Sharma, Swastika.“H-1B Visa Approvals Face Massive Drop — Top 7 Indian Companies Got Only 4,573 Nods in FY25; Why It Matters.” Mint, December 1, 2025.
- Mani, Veena. “H-1B Nod for IT Firms Drops to 4.5k, Lowest in a Decade.” The Times of India, December 1, 2025.
- “H-1B FY2025: Amazon Leads; Big Tech Dominates, Indian Firms See Big Drop.” Financial Express, 2025.
