H-1B visa applications, 2008 to 2025
H-1B visa applications stood at 567,907 in 2025, up 6.3% on the previous period.
Employers received certification on 567,907 H-1B applications in fiscal year 2025, up 33,870 from the year before. The series runs from 404,436 in 2008 through the 2010 trough of 290,493 to a peak of 624,690 in 2019.
How it is measured
Every H-1B hire starts with a Labor Condition Application filed with the Department of Labor, stating the job, the worksite, and the offered wage. Kitegraph counts the applications the department certified in each federal fiscal year, from its public disclosure files, one row per application with duplicate case numbers removed. One application can cover several positions, and certification comes before the visa lottery and the USCIS petition, so certified applications run far above the visas issued in any year.
What the curve shows
Filings fell by more than a quarter after the 2008 financial crisis, bottoming at 290,493 in fiscal 2010. They climbed through the 2010s to the 2019 peak, dipped through the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, and recovered to 567,907 in 2025.
How many H-1B applications were certified in 2025?
Why are there more applications than the 85,000 visa cap?
What was the highest year on record?
Where does this data come from?
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