California Employers: 78,860 H-1B approvals in 2024

In 2024, 78,860 of the 80,081 H-1B petitions submitted by employers based in California were approved, according to data provided by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services via the H-1B Employer Data Hub.

This represents an approval rate of 98.5%, which is higher than the nationwide average.

In 2024, the average approval rate for H-1B petitions across the U.S. 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 California during 2024, filing a total of 35,542 petitions (44.4% of all submissions) and receiving 34,871 approvals, resulting in an approval rate of 98.1%. The Manufacturing industry followed, with 16,698 petitions (20.9% of all submissions), receiving 16,550 approvals and an approval rate of 99.1%.

Employers are classified under industries based on their reported operations and may be involved in multiple industries.

The California employers with the most approvals during 2024 included Google, LLC, filing a total of 5,427 petitions and receiving 5,362 approvals, resulting in an approval rate of 98.8%, and Meta Platforms, Inc., which filed 4,869 petitions and received 4,841 approvals, resulting in an approval rate of 99.4%.

Compared to 2023, California saw a 5.7% 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	35,542	44.4%	34,871	98.1%	1.9%
2	Manufacturing	16,698	20.9%	16,550	99.1%	0.9%
3	Information	13,750	17.2%	13,597	98.9%	1.1%
4	Finance and Insurance	4,120	5.1%	4,076	98.9%	1.1%
5	Educational Services	3,261	4.1%	3,219	98.7%	1.3%
6	Retail Trade	1,520	1.9%	1,498	98.6%	1.4%
7	Health Care and Social Assistance	1,402	1.8%	1,367	97.5%	2.5%
8	Wholesale Trade	670	0.8%	656	97.9%	2.1%
9	Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services	552	0.7%	529	95.8%	4.2%
10	Construction	440	0.5%	434	98.6%	1.4%
11	Real Estate and Rental and Leasing	264	0.3%	261	98.9%	1.1%
12	Transportation and Warehousing	222	0.3%	210	94.6%	5.4%
13	Utilities	201	0.3%	198	98.5%	1.5%
14	Other Services (except Public Administration)	175	0.2%	167	95.4%	4.6%
15	Management of Companies and Enterprises	112	0.1%	111	99.1%	0.9%
16	Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation	97	0.1%	91	93.8%	6.2%
17	Public Administration	90	0.1%	90	100%	0%
18	Accommodation and Food Services	76	0.1%	66	86.8%	13.2%
19	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	51	0.1%	49	96.1%	3.9%
20	Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction	41	0.1%	41	100%	0%

Rank	Company Name	Industry(ies)	Total Petitions	Approved Petitions	% Approved	% Denied
1	Google, LLC	Information; Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	5,427	5,362	98.8%	1.2%
2	Meta Platforms, Inc.	Information; Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services; Educational Services; Other Services (except Public Administration)	4,869	4,841	99.4%	0.6%
3	Apple, Inc.	Manufacturing	3,900	3,872	99.3%	0.7%
4	HCL America, Inc.	Information; Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	2,996	2,955	98.6%	1.4%
5	Salesforce Com, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	1,523	1,517	99.6%	0.4%
6	Nvidia Corporation	Manufacturing	1,513	1,507	99.6%	0.4%
7	Cisco Systems, Inc.	Manufacturing; Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	1,335	1,328	99.5%	0.5%
8	Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.	Manufacturing	1,134	1,121	98.9%	1.1%
9	Bytedance, Inc.	Information	1,008	997	98.9%	1.1%
10	Linkedin Corporation	Manufacturing; Information	985	980	99.5%	0.5%
11	Adobe, Inc.	Information; Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	797	787	98.7%	1.3%
12	Intuit, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	773	770	99.6%	0.4%
13	Uber Technologies, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	684	675	98.7%	1.3%
14	Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.	Manufacturing	643	641	99.7%	0.3%
15	Paypal, Inc.	Finance and Insurance	584	579	99.1%	0.9%
16	Servicenow, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	583	578	99.1%	0.9%
17	Ebay, Inc.	Retail Trade	546	545	99.8%	0.2%
18	Rivian Automotive, LLC	Manufacturing	547	541	98.9%	1.1%
19	UST Global, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	539	538	99.8%	0.2%
20	Applied Materials, Inc.	Manufacturing	519	518	99.8%	0.2%
21	Tiktok, Inc.	Information; Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	527	517	98.1%	1.9%
22	The Leland Stanford JR University	Educational Services	502	502	100%	0%
23	Lucid USA, Inc.	Manufacturing; Retail Trade	479	477	99.6%	0.4%
24	Palo Alto Networks, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	468	462	98.7%	1.3%
25	Doordash, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	435	427	98.2%	1.8%
26	Vmware, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	360	358	99.4%	0.6%
27	Workday, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	349	347	99.4%	0.6%
28	Visa Technology and Operations, LLC	Finance and Insurance	343	341	99.4%	0.6%
29	University of California San Francisco	Educational Services; Health Care and Social Assistance	308	306	99.4%	0.6%
30	Amgen, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	288	287	99.7%	0.3%
31	Databricks, Inc.	Information; Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	283	283	100%	0%
31	Snowflake, Inc.	Information; Educational Services	285	283	99.3%	0.7%
33	Persistent Systems Limited	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	282	281	99.6%	0.4%
34	Persistent Systems, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	274	272	99.3%	0.7%
35	Synopsys, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	269	267	99.3%	0.7%
36	Stripe, Inc.	Finance and Insurance	265	265	100%	0%
37	Snap, Inc.	Information	259	258	99.6%	0.4%
38	Visa U S a, Inc.	Finance and Insurance	252	245	97.2%	2.8%
38	Netflix, Inc.	Information	249	245	98.4%	1.6%
40	Cadence Design Systems, Inc.	Manufacturing	247	244	98.8%	1.2%
41	Lam Research Corporation	Manufacturing; Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	232	232	100%	0%
42	Block, Inc.	Information	235	231	98.3%	1.7%
43	Pinterest, Inc.	Information	227	225	99.1%	0.9%
44	Nagarro, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	224	223	99.6%	0.4%
45	Zoox, Inc.	Manufacturing	223	221	99.1%	0.9%
46	Autodesk, Inc.	Information; Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	216	216	100%	0%
47	University of Southern California	Educational Services	214	214	100%	0%
48	Juniper Networks, Inc.	Manufacturing	206	206	100%	0%
49	University of California Los Angeles	Educational Services	202	200	99%	1%
50	Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc.	Manufacturing	197	196	99.5%	0.5%
51	Globallogic, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	192	189	98.4%	1.6%
52	KLA Corporation	Manufacturing	190	184	96.8%	3.2%
52	Nutanix, Inc.	Information	185	184	99.5%	0.5%
54	Robinhood Markets, Inc.	Finance and Insurance	183	179	97.8%	2.2%
55	Xilinx, Inc.	Manufacturing	179	178	99.4%	0.6%
56	Gilead Sciences, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	173	173	100%	0%
57	Zscaler, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	173	172	99.4%	0.6%
58	University of California Berkeley	Educational Services	170	169	99.4%	0.6%
59	Atlassian, Inc.	Information; Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	167	166	99.4%	0.6%
60	University of California San Diego	Educational Services	169	165	97.6%	2.4%
60	Docusign, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	166	165	99.4%	0.6%
60	Western Digital Technologies, Inc.	Manufacturing	166	165	99.4%	0.6%
63	Airbnb, Inc.	Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services	158	157	99.4%	0.6%
64	Marvell Semiconductor, Inc.	Manufacturing	158	156	98.7%	1.3%
65	Netapp, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	153	151	98.7%	1.3%
65	ARM, Inc.	Manufacturing	152	151	99.3%	0.7%
67	Fortinet, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	148	144	97.3%	2.7%
68	Safeway, Inc.	Retail Trade	145	142	97.9%	2.1%
68	Maplebear, Inc.	Information	144	142	98.6%	1.4%
70	Splunk, Inc.	Information	140	140	100%	0%
71	Sony Interactive Entertainment, LLC	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	142	139	97.9%	2.1%
72	University of California Davis	Educational Services	136	136	100%	0%
72	Denken Solutions, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	137	136	99.3%	0.7%
74	Lawrence Berkeley National Lab	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	134	134	100%	0%
75	Cruise, LLC	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	133	133	100%	0%
76	Arista Networks, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	135	131	97%	3%
77	Genentech, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	124	124	100%	0%
77	Credit Karma, LLC	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	125	124	99.2%	0.8%
79	Pure Storage, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	123	122	99.2%	0.8%
79	Tiger Analytics, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	123	122	99.2%	0.8%
81	Roku, Inc.	Information	121	120	99.2%	0.8%
82	Equinix, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	118	116	98.3%	1.7%
83	Waymo, LLC	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	115	114	99.1%	0.9%
83	Software Integrity Group, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	114	114	100%	0%
85	Okta, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	113	113	100%	0%
86	Twilio, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	112	111	99.1%	0.9%
87	Coupang Global, LLC	Retail Trade	110	108	98.2%	1.8%
88	Skyworks Solutions, Inc.	Manufacturing	107	106	99.1%	0.9%
89	Environmental Systems Research Institute Esri, Inc.	Information	103	102	99%	1%
90	Chime Financial, Inc.	Finance and Insurance	101	101	100%	0%
91	Roblox Corporation	Information	99	99	100%	0%
91	Nisum Technologies, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	101	99	98%	2%
93	Hitachi Digital Services, LLC	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	98	98	100%	0%
94	Tiktok U S Data Security, Inc.	Information	97	97	100%	0%
94	Cepheid	Manufacturing	97	97	100%	0%
94	Confluent, Inc.	Information; Real Estate and Rental and Leasing	97	97	100%	0%
97	Pacific Investment Management Company, LLC	Finance and Insurance	96	95	99%	1%
97	Broadcom Corporation	Manufacturing	98	95	96.9%	3.1%
99	Illumina, Inc.	Manufacturing	95	94	98.9%	1.1%
100	Electronic ARTS, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	94	93	98.9%	1.1%