H-1B Visa Approvals Reach 406,348 in 2025 as Companies Face New Fee

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services approved 406,348 H-1B visas in 2025, up from 275,317 approvals recorded in 2015. Seventy percent of the 2025 visas went to workers from India. The annual cap stands at 85,000 new visas, with the higher total reflecting renewals and extensions.

U.S. workers are unavailable. Companies must pay at least the prevailing wage for the occupation and region. U.S. citizens. Harvard economist George J. U.S. counterparts. He calculated average company savings of nearly $100,000 per worker over six years. Software developer positions account for 38 percent of all H-1B visa holders.

Six months ago, USCIS introduced a $100,000 fee for each new H-1B worker living outside the United States. Immigration attorney Navdeep Meamber said tech companies have stopped filing visas for workers outside the country because of the fee. Immigration attorney Rosemary Jenks said companies are shifting to workers already in the United States through student visa programs.

Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt posted on X that the program represents a national security concern and called for an end to the high volume of approvals. Immigration attorney Hassan Abdullah said the original requirement to prove no qualified Americans are available has not been enforced in practice.