Of these, 78,860 were approved (98.5%), while 1,221 were denied (1.5%).
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.
For comparison, the average approval rate for H-1B petitions across the United States in 2024 stood at 98%, slightly higher than the 97.3% recorded in 2023.
The Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services industry led the H-1B filings in California during 2024, with 35,542 petitions (44.4% of all submissions), and an approval rate of 98.1%. Meanwhile, the Manufacturing industry was the second largest contributor, filing 16,698 petitions (20.9% of the total), with an approval rate of 99.1%.
The California employers with the most petitions during 2024 included Google, LLC, which filed 5,427 petitions with an approval rate of 98.8%, Meta Platforms, Inc. with 4,869 petitions and an approval rate of 99.4%, and Apple, Inc., which filed 3,900 petitions with an approval rate of 99.3%.
Compared to 2023, the number of H-1B petitions filed in California during 2024 increased by 5.7%.
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 | % Denied |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 35,542 | 44.4% | 98.1% | 1.9% |
| 2 | Manufacturing | 16,698 | 20.9% | 99.1% | 0.9% |
| 3 | Information | 13,750 | 17.2% | 98.9% | 1.1% |
| 4 | Finance and Insurance | 4,120 | 5.1% | 98.9% | 1.1% |
| 5 | Educational Services | 3,261 | 4.1% | 98.7% | 1.3% |
| 6 | Retail Trade | 1,520 | 1.9% | 98.6% | 1.4% |
| 7 | Health Care and Social Assistance | 1,402 | 1.8% | 97.5% | 2.5% |
| 8 | Wholesale Trade | 670 | 0.8% | 97.9% | 2.1% |
| 9 | Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services | 552 | 0.7% | 95.8% | 4.2% |
| 10 | Construction | 440 | 0.5% | 98.6% | 1.4% |
| 11 | Real Estate and Rental and Leasing | 264 | 0.3% | 98.9% | 1.1% |
| 12 | Transportation and Warehousing | 222 | 0.3% | 94.6% | 5.4% |
| 13 | Utilities | 201 | 0.3% | 98.5% | 1.5% |
| 14 | Other Services (except Public Administration) | 175 | 0.2% | 95.4% | 4.6% |
| 15 | Management of Companies and Enterprises | 112 | 0.1% | 99.1% | 0.9% |
| 16 | Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation | 97 | 0.1% | 93.8% | 6.2% |
| 17 | Public Administration | 90 | 0.1% | 100% | 0% |
| 18 | Accommodation and Food Services | 76 | 0.1% | 86.8% | 13.2% |
| 19 | Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting | 51 | 0.1% | 96.1% | 3.9% |
| 20 | Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction | 41 | 0.1% | 100% | 0% |
| Company Name | Industries | Total Petitions | % Approved | % Denied |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google, LLC | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services, Information | 5,427 | 98.8% | 1.2% |
| Meta Platforms, Inc. | Information, Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services, Educational Services, Other Services (except Public Administration) | 4,869 | 99.4% | 0.6% |
| Apple, Inc. | Manufacturing | 3,900 | 99.3% | 0.7% |
| HCL America, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services, Information | 2,996 | 98.6% | 1.4% |
| Salesforce Com, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 1,523 | 99.6% | 0.4% |
| Nvidia Corporation | Manufacturing | 1,513 | 99.6% | 0.4% |
| Cisco Systems, Inc. | Manufacturing, Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 1,335 | 99.5% | 0.5% |
| Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. | Manufacturing | 1,134 | 98.9% | 1.1% |
| Bytedance, Inc. | Information | 1,008 | 98.9% | 1.1% |
| Linkedin Corporation | Information, Manufacturing | 985 | 99.5% | 0.5% |
| Adobe, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services, Information | 797 | 98.7% | 1.3% |
| Intuit, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 773 | 99.6% | 0.4% |
| Uber Technologies, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 684 | 98.7% | 1.3% |
| Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. | Manufacturing | 643 | 99.7% | 0.3% |
| Paypal, Inc. | Finance and Insurance | 584 | 99.1% | 0.9% |
| Servicenow, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 583 | 99.1% | 0.9% |
| Rivian Automotive, LLC | Manufacturing | 547 | 98.9% | 1.1% |
| Ebay, Inc. | Retail Trade | 546 | 99.8% | 0.2% |
| UST Global, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 539 | 99.8% | 0.2% |
| Tiktok, Inc. | Information, Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 527 | 98.1% | 1.9% |
| Applied Materials, Inc. | Manufacturing | 519 | 99.8% | 0.2% |
| The Leland Stanford JR University | Educational Services | 502 | 100% | 0% |
| Lucid USA, Inc. | Manufacturing, Retail Trade | 479 | 99.6% | 0.4% |
| Palo Alto Networks, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 468 | 98.7% | 1.3% |
| Doordash, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 435 | 98.2% | 1.8% |
| Vmware, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 360 | 99.4% | 0.6% |
| Workday, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 349 | 99.4% | 0.6% |
| Visa Technology and Operations, LLC | Finance and Insurance | 343 | 99.4% | 0.6% |
| University of California San Francisco | Educational Services, Health Care and Social Assistance | 308 | 99.4% | 0.6% |
| Amgen, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 288 | 99.7% | 0.3% |
| Snowflake, Inc. | Information, Educational Services | 285 | 99.3% | 0.7% |
| Databricks, Inc. | Information, Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 283 | 100% | 0% |
| Persistent Systems Limited | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 282 | 99.6% | 0.4% |
| Persistent Systems, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 274 | 99.3% | 0.7% |
| Synopsys, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 269 | 99.3% | 0.7% |
| Stripe, Inc. | Finance and Insurance | 265 | 100% | 0% |
| Snap, Inc. | Information | 259 | 99.6% | 0.4% |
| Visa U S a, Inc. | Finance and Insurance | 252 | 97.2% | 2.8% |
| Netflix, Inc. | Information | 249 | 98.4% | 1.6% |
| Cadence Design Systems, Inc. | Manufacturing | 247 | 98.8% | 1.2% |
| Block, Inc. | Information | 235 | 98.3% | 1.7% |
| Lam Research Corporation | Manufacturing, Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 232 | 100% | 0% |
| Pinterest, Inc. | Information | 227 | 99.1% | 0.9% |
| Nagarro, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 224 | 99.6% | 0.4% |
| Zoox, Inc. | Manufacturing | 223 | 99.1% | 0.9% |
| Autodesk, Inc. | Information, Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 216 | 100% | 0% |
| University of Southern California | Educational Services | 214 | 100% | 0% |
| Juniper Networks, Inc. | Manufacturing | 206 | 100% | 0% |
| University of California Los Angeles | Educational Services | 202 | 99% | 1% |
| Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. | Manufacturing | 197 | 99.5% | 0.5% |
| Globallogic, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 192 | 98.4% | 1.6% |
| KLA Corporation | Manufacturing | 190 | 96.8% | 3.2% |
| Nutanix, Inc. | Information | 185 | 99.5% | 0.5% |
| Robinhood Markets, Inc. | Finance and Insurance | 183 | 97.8% | 2.2% |
| Xilinx, Inc. | Manufacturing | 179 | 99.4% | 0.6% |
| Zscaler, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 173 | 99.4% | 0.6% |
| Gilead Sciences, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 173 | 100% | 0% |
| University of California Berkeley | Educational Services | 170 | 99.4% | 0.6% |
| University of California San Diego | Educational Services | 169 | 97.6% | 2.4% |
| Atlassian, Inc. | Information, Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 167 | 99.4% | 0.6% |
| Docusign, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 166 | 99.4% | 0.6% |
| Western Digital Technologies, Inc. | Manufacturing | 166 | 99.4% | 0.6% |
| Airbnb, Inc. | Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services | 158 | 99.4% | 0.6% |
| Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. | Manufacturing | 158 | 98.7% | 1.3% |
| Netapp, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 153 | 98.7% | 1.3% |
| ARM, Inc. | Manufacturing | 152 | 99.3% | 0.7% |
| Fortinet, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 148 | 97.3% | 2.7% |
| Safeway, Inc. | Retail Trade | 145 | 97.9% | 2.1% |
| Maplebear, Inc. | Information | 144 | 98.6% | 1.4% |
| Sony Interactive Entertainment, LLC | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 142 | 97.9% | 2.1% |
| Splunk, Inc. | Information | 140 | 100% | 0% |
| Denken Solutions, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 137 | 99.3% | 0.7% |
| University of California Davis | Educational Services | 136 | 100% | 0% |
| Arista Networks, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 135 | 97% | 3% |
| Lawrence Berkeley National Lab | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 134 | 100% | 0% |
| Cruise, LLC | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 133 | 100% | 0% |
| Credit Karma, LLC | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 125 | 99.2% | 0.8% |
| Genentech, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 124 | 100% | 0% |
| Tiger Analytics, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 123 | 99.2% | 0.8% |
| Pure Storage, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 123 | 99.2% | 0.8% |
| Roku, Inc. | Information | 121 | 99.2% | 0.8% |
| Equinix, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 118 | 98.3% | 1.7% |
| Waymo, LLC | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 115 | 99.1% | 0.9% |
| Software Integrity Group, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 114 | 100% | 0% |
| Okta, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 113 | 100% | 0% |
| Twilio, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 112 | 99.1% | 0.9% |
| Coupang Global, LLC | Retail Trade | 110 | 98.2% | 1.8% |
| Skyworks Solutions, Inc. | Manufacturing | 107 | 99.1% | 0.9% |
| Environmental Systems Research Institute Esri, Inc. | Information | 103 | 99% | 1% |
| Chime Financial, Inc. | Finance and Insurance | 101 | 100% | 0% |
| Nisum Technologies, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 101 | 98% | 2% |
| Roblox Corporation | Information | 99 | 100% | 0% |
| Broadcom Corporation | Manufacturing | 98 | 96.9% | 3.1% |
| Hitachi Digital Services, LLC | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 98 | 100% | 0% |
| Tiktok U S Data Security, Inc. | Information | 97 | 100% | 0% |
| Cepheid | Manufacturing | 97 | 100% | 0% |
| Confluent, Inc. | Information, Real Estate and Rental and Leasing | 97 | 100% | 0% |
| Pacific Investment Management Company, LLC | Finance and Insurance | 96 | 99% | 1% |
| Illumina, Inc. | Manufacturing | 95 | 98.9% | 1.1% |
| Electronic ARTS, Inc. | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 94 | 98.9% | 1.1% |