Narayan AmmachchiH-1B visa approvals for major Indian IT companies have plunged to a decade-low in FY 2025, falling to just 4,573. This marks a 70% drop from 2015 levels and a 37% decline compared to FY 2024.
Fresh data from the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), based on US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) records, indicates a structural shift in US tech hiring. Employers are increasingly prioritising workers already in the US instead of bringing in new talent from abroad.
For the first time, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Google occupy all top four spots for new H-1B approvals — a space historically dominated by Indian IT firms.
Most H-1B petitions now relate to continuing employment, where rejection rates remain low for companies such as Infosys, Wipro, and LTIMindtree, typically between 1% and 2%. However, first-time employment rejections have risen sharply in FY 2025.
TCS is the only Indian company still among the top five US H-1B employers. It secured 846 initial approvals in FY 2025, down from 1,452 in 2024 and 1,174 in 2023, according to The Times of India.
It also received 5,293 continuing-employment approvals for renewals. Yet even here, rejections are edging up — extension refusals climbed to 7%, from 4% last year. Its overall rejection rate for continuing employment stood at 1.9%.
Among major employers, TCS continues to report one of the lowest rejection rates at 2%, followed by HCL America (6%), LTIMindtree (5%), and Capgemini (4%).
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