Not All H1B Petitions Succeed
The public conversation around H1B focuses heavily on the lottery: will you get selected? But there's a second gate: USCIS approval after selection. Overall approval rates vary significantly by employer type, job category, and wage level.
The headline number is roughly 95% approval for most petitions, but that average hides a wide distribution. Some employer categories see denial rates well above that, and some below.
The Pattern USCIS Has Been Clear About
USCIS has consistently scrutinized two scenarios more heavily than others:
1. Staffing and consulting firms placing workers at third-party sites. When an IT staffing company files an H1B petition, USCIS looks hard at whether the specialty occupation requirement is met: is the role truly requiring a bachelor's degree in a specific field, or is it relatively general IT work? Companies like Cognizant (4,641 petitions, avg $112,422), Tata Consultancy (2,749 petitions, avg $91,793), and Infosys (2,207 petitions, avg $102,321) have faced higher scrutiny historically, particularly when wages are near the prevailing wage floor.2. Roles paid near the minimum prevailing wage. USCIS has used wage level as a proxy for specialty occupation complexity. A petition paying Wage Level I (the bottom quartile) for a role described as requiring advanced expertise creates a logical inconsistency, and USCIS has noticed.The Salary Divide in the Data
The contrast in our LCA data is stark:
High-approval category employers:- Amazon: 4,763 petitions | avg $170,653
- Microsoft: 4,046 petitions | avg $171,069
- Google: 1,770 petitions | avg $198,976
- Meta: 1,808 petitions | avg $216,934
- Apple: 1,397 petitions | avg $181,708
- Tata Consultancy Services: 2,749 petitions | avg $91,793
- Infosys: 2,207 petitions | avg $102,321
- HCL America: 758 petitions | avg $111,688
- LTIMindtree: 685 petitions | avg $106,255
What "Denial" Actually Means
A denial isn't always final. Companies can respond to Requests for Evidence (RFEs), file appeals, or re-petition. Some denials are procedural rather than substantive: missing documentation, description issues, or technical errors.
But genuine substantive denials (where USCIS concludes the role doesn't qualify as a specialty occupation) are more permanent. Workers in this situation often end up working for a different employer, on a different visa, or outside the U.S.
The Cap-Exempt vs. Cap-Subject Divide
Universities and nonprofit research organizations are cap-exempt and face significantly less scrutiny than cap-subject employers. Their average salaries are lower, but the Professor category ($228,165 average, 75 petitions) shows that academic roles can still be competitive.
Cap-exempt positions don't go through the lottery and face different approval criteria; the specialty occupation bar is still there, but USCIS has historically been more deferential toward universities than staffing firms.
The Geographic Angle
Approval also varies by state. The VisaTrack data shows Software Engineer petitions concentrated heavily in California (4,724 petitions, avg $187,469), followed by Texas (1,117, avg $104,507) and New Jersey (1,016, avg $105,642).
California petitions tend to be at direct-hire tech companies paying well above prevailing wage. New Jersey petitions skew more toward staffing and consulting placements. This geographic distribution partly explains why approval rates differ across states; it's not the state that matters, it's what type of employer is dominant in that state's H1B filings.
What It Means for Applicants
If you're evaluating job offers that include H1B sponsorship, the sponsor's track record matters. Before accepting, consider:
Ask about denial rates. Any experienced immigration attorney can pull USCIS data on a specific employer's approval history. It's public information.Look at the wage offered. Wage Level I petitions (below median for the occupation) face higher denial risk. A job offer at $95K in a role where the prevailing wage is $120K is a yellow flag for approval risk.Understand the employer type. Direct employment with a tech company differs from placement through a staffing firm: not just on salary, but on approval probability and what happens if the placement ends.Search employer approval history → | Compare salary data → | Top H1B sponsors →Data from DOL OFLC LCA disclosure files and USCIS transparency data.