This represents an approval rate of 98%, which is on par with the nationwide average.
In 2024, the average approval rate for H-1B petitions across the U.S. also stood at 98%, slightly higher than the 97.3% recorded in 2023.
The H-1B visa program allows U.S. employers to temporarily hire foreign workers in specialty occupations requiring specialized knowledge and at least a bachelor’s degree or equivalent. It is designed to address skill gaps in the U.S. workforce while ensuring wage standards to protect both U.S. and H-1B workers. Employers must certify that they will pay H-1B workers wages equal to or greater than those of similarly qualified U.S. employees or the prevailing local wage.
The Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services industry led H-1B petition approvals in North Carolina during 2024, filing a total of 6,200 petitions (59.1% of all submissions) and receiving 6,072 approvals, resulting in an approval rate of 97.9%. The Finance and Insurance industry followed, with 1,395 petitions (13.3% of all submissions), receiving 1,384 approvals and an approval rate of 99.2%.
Employers are classified under industries based on their reported operations and may be involved in multiple industries.
The North Carolina employers with the most approvals during 2024 included IBM Corporation, filing a total of 2,920 petitions and receiving 2,906 approvals, resulting in an approval rate of 99.5%, and Bank of America, N A, which filed 498 petitions and received approvals for all of them.
Compared to 2023, North Carolina saw a 6.7% increase in the number of H-1B petitions during 2024.
The United States admits around 1 million legal immigrants annually, most of whom receive permanent residence (green cards) through family sponsorship or employment-based visas. In 2023, about 1.2 million immigrants were granted green cards, a return to pre-pandemic levels. Temporary visa programs, such as the H-1B for highly skilled workers and H-2A for seasonal agricultural workers, also play a critical role in filling workforce needs.
Public opinion on immigration varies, with 46% of Americans favoring maintaining current legal immigration levels, according to a 2024 Pew Research Center survey. Additionally, 42% believe that highly skilled workers, such as scientists, doctors, and programmers, should be prioritized for legal immigration, compared to 25% who prioritize workers filling labor shortages and 19% who emphasize family sponsorship. Despite this, family sponsorship remains the most common path to permanent residency, accounting for 63% of green cards issued in 2023.
The data in this article comes from the H-1B Employer Data Hub provided by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). While USCIS strives for accuracy, manual data entry and errors on paper forms submitted by applicants or petitioners may result in discrepancies in employer names, tax IDs, locations, or other details.
| Rank | Industry | Total Petitions | % of All Submissions | Approved Petitions | % Approved | % Denied |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 6,200 | 59.1% | 6,072 | 97.9% | 2.1% |
| 2 | Finance and Insurance | 1,395 | 13.3% | 1,384 | 99.2% | 0.8% |
| 3 | Educational Services | 1,211 | 11.5% | 1,195 | 98.7% | 1.3% |
| 4 | Manufacturing | 607 | 5.8% | 595 | 98% | 2% |
| 5 | Retail Trade | 310 | 3% | 301 | 97.1% | 2.9% |
| 6 | Health Care and Social Assistance | 233 | 2.2% | 214 | 91.8% | 8.2% |
| 7 | Information | 130 | 1.2% | 128 | 98.5% | 1.5% |
| 8 | Wholesale Trade | 70 | 0.7% | 68 | 97.1% | 2.9% |
| 9 | Utilities | 58 | 0.6% | 58 | 100% | 0% |
| 10 | Accommodation and Food Services | 35 | 0.3% | 33 | 94.3% | 5.7% |
| 11 | Other Services (except Public Administration) | 33 | 0.3% | 32 | 97% | 3% |
| 12 | Construction | 35 | 0.3% | 31 | 88.6% | 11.4% |
| 13 | Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services | 28 | 0.3% | 28 | 100% | 0% |
| 14 | Real Estate and Rental and Leasing | 10 | 0.1% | 10 | 100% | 0% |
| 15 | Public Administration | 9 | 0.1% | 9 | 100% | 0% |
| 15 | Transportation and Warehousing | 9 | 0.1% | 9 | 100% | 0% |
| 17 | Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation | 5 | ~0% | 5 | 100% | 0% |
| 18 | Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting | 3 | ~0% | 3 | 100% | 0% |
| 19 | Management of Companies and Enterprises | 2 | ~0% | 2 | 100% | 0% |
| 20 | Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction | 1 | ~0% | 1 | 100% | 0% |
| Rank | Company Name | Industry(ies) | Total Petitions | Approved Petitions | % Approved | % Denied |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IBM Corporation | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 2,920 | 2,906 | 99.5% | 0.5% |
| 2 | Bank of America, N A | Finance and Insurance | 498 | 498 | 100% | 0% |
| 3 | Truist Bank | Finance and Insurance; Public Administration | 248 | 244 | 98.4% | 1.6% |
| 4 | Lowes Companies, Inc. | Retail Trade | 219 | 214 | 97.7% | 2.3% |
| 5 | Duke University-University-Med Center-Affil | Educational Services | 216 | 213 | 98.6% | 1.4% |
| 6 | Bofa Securities, Inc. | Finance and Insurance | 191 | 190 | 99.5% | 0.5% |
| 7 | DB Global Technology, Inc. | Finance and Insurance | 162 | 160 | 98.8% | 1.2% |
| 8 | Honeywell International, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 154 | 151 | 98.1% | 1.9% |
| 9 | NC State University | Educational Services | 136 | 136 | 100% | 0% |
| 10 | Iqvia, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 130 | 128 | 98.5% | 1.5% |
| 11 | Red Hat, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 129 | 127 | 98.4% | 1.6% |
| 12 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Educational Services | 104 | 104 | 100% | 0% |
| 13 | PPD Development L P | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 99 | 97 | 98% | 2% |
| 14 | First Citizens Bank and Trust Company | Finance and Insurance | 88 | 87 | 98.9% | 1.1% |
| 15 | Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services; Health Care and Social Assistance | 69 | 69 | 100% | 0% |
| 16 | Metrix It Solutions, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 61 | 61 | 100% | 0% |
| 17 | Tabner, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 58 | 54 | 93.1% | 6.9% |
| 18 | Nash County Public Schools | Educational Services | 53 | 51 | 96.2% | 3.8% |
| 19 | D2sol, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 50 | 50 | 100% | 0% |
| 20 | ABB, Inc. | Manufacturing | 49 | 48 | 98% | 2% |
| 21 | Hitachi Energy USA, Inc. | Utilities | 45 | 45 | 100% | 0% |
| 22 | Wolfspeed, Inc. | Manufacturing | 42 | 41 | 97.6% | 2.4% |
| 23 | Granville County Public Schools | Educational Services | 40 | 40 | 100% | 0% |
| 24 | Technosoft Engineering, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 41 | 38 | 92.7% | 7.3% |
| 24 | Merrill Lynch | Finance and Insurance | 39 | 38 | 97.4% | 2.6% |
| 26 | Halifax County Public Schools | Educational Services | 37 | 37 | 100% | 0% |
| 26 | NC Health Affiliates, LLC | Finance and Insurance | 37 | 37 | 100% | 0% |
| 28 | Iqvia RDS, Inc. | Manufacturing | 34 | 34 | 100% | 0% |
| 29 | Intelligrated Systems, LLC | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 34 | 33 | 97.1% | 2.9% |
| 29 | Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 34 | 33 | 97.1% | 2.9% |
| 31 | Ardor It Solutions, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 34 | 31 | 91.2% | 8.8% |
| 31 | Trane Technologies Company, LLC | Manufacturing | 31 | 31 | 100% | 0% |
| 33 | Compass Group USA, Inc. | Accommodation and Food Services | 32 | 30 | 93.8% | 6.3% |
| 34 | Avidxchange, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 29 | 29 | 100% | 0% |
| 35 | Sas Institute, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 29 | 28 | 96.6% | 3.4% |
| 35 | It Keysource, Inc. | Information; Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 28 | 28 | 100% | 0% |
| 35 | Volvo Group North America, LLC | Utilities; Manufacturing | 28 | 28 | 100% | 0% |
| 38 | Lenovo United States, Inc. | Manufacturing | 27 | 27 | 100% | 0% |
| 38 | Origin Hubs, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 29 | 27 | 93.1% | 6.9% |
| 38 | Artificial Inventions, LLC | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 29 | 27 | 93.1% | 6.9% |
| 38 | Addepto It Solutions, LLC | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 30 | 27 | 90% | 10% |
| 42 | Regent Strategic Solutions | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 26 | 26 | 100% | 0% |
| 43 | Radcom Software Services, LLC | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 29 | 25 | 86.2% | 13.8% |
| 43 | Lendingtree, LLC | Finance and Insurance | 25 | 25 | 100% | 0% |
| 45 | Cloudninetek, LLC | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 25 | 24 | 96% | 4% |
| 45 | Healthy Start Education, Inc. | Educational Services | 25 | 24 | 96% | 4% |
| 45 | Triad Math and Science Academy Company | Educational Services | 24 | 24 | 100% | 0% |
| 45 | Teksolve It Solutions, LLC | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 25 | 24 | 96% | 4% |
| 49 | Apex Analytix, LLC | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 23 | 23 | 100% | 0% |
| 49 | Johnston County Public Schools | Educational Services | 23 | 23 | 100% | 0% |
| 49 | Carolinas Physicians Network D, Inc. | Health Care and Social Assistance | 25 | 23 | 92% | 8% |
| 52 | Appalachian State University | Educational Services | 22 | 22 | 100% | 0% |
| 52 | Belk, Inc. | Retail Trade | 22 | 22 | 100% | 0% |
| 52 | Duke University Health System, Inc. | Educational Services | 22 | 22 | 100% | 0% |
| 52 | Aanvi Cloud Technologies, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 23 | 22 | 95.7% | 4.3% |
| 52 | East Carolina University | Educational Services | 22 | 22 | 100% | 0% |
| 57 | Epic Games, Inc. | Information; Real Estate and Rental and Leasing | 21 | 21 | 100% | 0% |
| 57 | Snowstack, LLC | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 22 | 21 | 95.5% | 4.5% |
| 59 | Wake Forest University Health Sciences | Educational Services | 21 | 20 | 95.2% | 4.8% |
| 59 | Vance County Public Schools | Educational Services | 20 | 20 | 100% | 0% |
| 59 | University of North Carolina Charlotte | Educational Services | 20 | 20 | 100% | 0% |
| 59 | ARCH US MI Services, Inc. | Finance and Insurance | 20 | 20 | 100% | 0% |
| 63 | GXO Logistics Corporate Services, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 19 | 19 | 100% | 0% |
| 63 | Warren County Schools | Educational Services | 19 | 19 | 100% | 0% |
| 63 | Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions, Inc. | Retail Trade | 20 | 19 | 95% | 5% |
| 63 | Go8 It, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 20 | 19 | 95% | 5% |
| 63 | Clicksoft Solutions, LLC | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 19 | 19 | 100% | 0% |
| 63 | Pantar Solutions, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 20 | 19 | 95% | 5% |
| 63 | Signature It Solutions, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 19 | 19 | 100% | 0% |
| 63 | Sas Info, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 19 | 19 | 100% | 0% |
| 71 | VF Services, LLC | Manufacturing | 18 | 18 | 100% | 0% |
| 71 | Inteca It Solutions, LLC | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 18 | 18 | 100% | 0% |
| 71 | Intelligrated Services, LLC | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 18 | 18 | 100% | 0% |
| 71 | Blooming Technician, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 18 | 18 | 100% | 0% |
| 71 | Anson County Schools | Educational Services | 19 | 18 | 94.7% | 5.3% |
| 71 | University North Carolina Wilmington | Educational Services | 19 | 18 | 94.7% | 5.3% |
| 71 | Harbor Hat, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 22 | 18 | 81.8% | 18.2% |
| 71 | Cesta, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 20 | 18 | 90% | 10% |
| 79 | Alpha Academy | Educational Services | 17 | 17 | 100% | 0% |
| 79 | The Charlotte Mecklenburg Hospital Authority | Health Care and Social Assistance | 17 | 17 | 100% | 0% |
| 79 | Cloud Space, LLC | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 17 | 17 | 100% | 0% |
| 79 | Vidant Medical Group, LLC | Health Care and Social Assistance | 18 | 17 | 94.4% | 5.6% |
| 79 | Research Triangle Institute | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 17 | 17 | 100% | 0% |
| 79 | Ahold Delhaize USA Services, LLC | Retail Trade | 17 | 17 | 100% | 0% |
| 79 | Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools | Educational Services | 17 | 17 | 100% | 0% |
| 86 | Premier, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 16 | 16 | 100% | 0% |
| 86 | Bertie County Schools | Educational Services | 16 | 16 | 100% | 0% |
| 86 | Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 16 | 16 | 100% | 0% |
| 86 | NC a and T State University | Educational Services | 16 | 16 | 100% | 0% |
| 86 | Edgecombe County Public Schools | Educational Services | 16 | 16 | 100% | 0% |
| 86 | Infomerica, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 16 | 16 | 100% | 0% |
| 86 | Syneos Health US, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 17 | 16 | 94.1% | 5.9% |
| 86 | Technodeed, LLC | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 16 | 16 | 100% | 0% |
| 86 | Wake Forest University | Educational Services | 16 | 16 | 100% | 0% |
| 86 | Extreme Networks, Inc. | Manufacturing | 16 | 16 | 100% | 0% |
| 86 | Lenovo Global Technology United States, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 17 | 16 | 94.1% | 5.9% |
| 97 | Suntechpros, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 16 | 15 | 93.8% | 6.3% |
| 97 | Winston Salem/Forsyth County Schools | Educational Services | 15 | 15 | 100% | 0% |
| 97 | Prosquire, LLC | Information; Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 16 | 15 | 93.8% | 6.3% |
| 97 | Promantus, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 17 | 15 | 88.2% | 11.8% |