Data story · updated July 24, 2026 · 2024-10-01 → 2026-03-31
H-1B sponsorship before and after the $100K fee: a matched-window comparison
“We sponsor visas” is a promise; filings are a record. We compared every major employer's certified H-1B LCA filings in the same six-month fiscal window before and after the September 2025 fee proclamation. This is a temporal comparison, not a causal estimate: the later window also reflects the weighted lottery, labor-market conditions, corporate reorganizations, and other changes. Across all employers, certified filings went from 228,204 to 199,471 (-13%).
Fee status on July 24, 2026: A Massachusetts federal court vacated the implementing policy on June 8, then temporarily stayed that result while the government pursued an appeal. The fee remains in effect in the meantime, but is disputed and pending appeal; this is not a final outcome. See the stay summary and the July 17 litigation update.
Filed fewer LCAs (down 15% or more)
| Employer | Oct 2024–Mar 2025 | Oct 2025–Mar 2026 | Change | Median base now |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WAL-MART ASSOCIATES | 1,751 | 791 | -55% | $150,080 |
| 6,534 | 2,974 | -54% | $193,440 | |
| Qualcomm Technologies | 1,439 | 666 | -54% | $152,506 |
| IBM Corporation | 1,233 | 597 | -52% | $129,508 |
| ServiceNow | 616 | 309 | -50% | $165,096 |
| Intel Corporation | 2,037 | 1,171 | -43% | $133,432 |
| LTIMindtree Limited | 1,182 | 712 | -40% | $100,798 |
| Microsoft | 4,698 | 2,879 | -39% | $180,710 |
| Amazon Web Services | 2,004 | 1,232 | -39% | $152,200 |
| Ernst & Young U.S. | 6,261 | 4,098 | -35% | $151,115 |
| Amazon Development Center U.S. | 1,116 | 737 | -34% | $155,000 |
| Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) | 2,589 | 1,838 | -29% | $91,874 |
| Oracle America | 634 | 452 | -29% | $140,920 |
| Amazon | 7,254 | 5,201 | -28% | $155,000 |
| HCL AMERICA | 962 | 688 | -28% | $123,500 |
Filed more LCAs (up 15% or more)
| Employer | Oct 2024–Mar 2025 | Oct 2025–Mar 2026 | Change | Median base now |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fidelity Technology Group, LLC d/b/a Fidelity Investments | 546 | 1,091 | +100% | $125,119 |
| PayPal | 544 | 921 | +69% | $170,000 |
| Infosys | 1,452 | 2,435 | +68% | $92,581 |
| LinkedIn Corporation | 619 | 780 | +26% | $179,079 |
| WIPRO LIMITED | 836 | 1,044 | +25% | $106,330 |
| COMPUNNEL SOFTWARE GROUP | 952 | 1,184 | +24% | $113,000 |
| NVIDIA | 1,015 | 1,259 | +24% | $188,293 |
Full table (47 employers with a FY2025 baseline)
Wage and wage-level figures come from the DOL OFLC LCA Disclosure Data, FY2026 Q2 (H-1B only) public release (FY2026 Q2 (Oct 2025 – Mar 2026 decisions)). LCA filings are wage attestations filed with the Department of Labor — they are not petitions, lottery selections, or hires, and one filing can cover multiple positions. Projected lottery selection rates come from the DHS weighted-selection final rule analysis and are illustrative, not a guarantee.
Method: certified H-1B LCA filings per employer, decisions October–March of each fiscal year, matched by normalized employer name (employers under ~100 FY2025 filings excluded). Filing counts are attestations, not hires; a shift can also reflect labor demand, seasonality, reorganized filing entities, data quality, or policy changes besides the fee. This matched-window design does not establish that the fee caused any change. Context: the $100K fee explained and the weighted lottery. Informational only, not legal advice.
Holding an offer from any of these?
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