This Indian IT Firm To Win Big From H-1B Visa Program: Who? TCS, Infosys Or HCL?

US Visa Applications: Indian firms including Infosys, Cognizant, Tata Consultancy Services, HCL, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra have emerged as the top beneficiaries of H-1B visa applications in the financial year 2024, according to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services data.

H-1B visa is a significant opportunity for US employers to hire foreign workers in the United States by applying for their employees' work visas. Jeff Bezos owned Amazon stands as the largest beneficiary of the US visa system as it got approvals for 9,265 H-1B visa applications in the previous financial year.

To get an H-1B visa, people need to have a bachelor's degree or any equivalent qualification in certain fields including science and technology, economy, etc. Recently, Donald Trump announced the idea of bringing a 'golden card' programme in replacement of EB-5 investor visa program. Donald Trump also urged top US employers to use the program to hire workers, hinting at a potential change in H1B visa programmes which may also impact Indian firms.

Top Indian IT firms leading in H-1B visa approval

The list of top Indian IT firms leading the H-1B visa approval includes Amazon, Infosys, Cognizant, Google, TCS, etc. Here are all the details of companies featured on the top 20 list of H1B visa beneficiaries.

Infosys

The top IT giant, founded by N. R. Narayana Murthy and Nandan Nilekani, stands as the biggest Indian beneficiary of H1B Visa approval programmes. The IT major received approval for over 8,140 H1B visa applications. The company has over 20,000 workers in the US, which includes a major portion of Indian nationals on skilled-worker visas, reported New York Times earlier.

Cognizant

Cognizant ranks third on the list as it stands the second-highest Indian beneficiary of US work visa policy. The company witnessed over 6,321 H1B visa application in FY 24. In 2024, the company faced a legal suit where the United States jury found it guilty of discriminatory practices favouring Indian workers. Cognizant reportedly faced action lawsuit which represented approximately 2,000 former employees.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)

Information Technology Services company, Tata Consultancy Services, ranks fifth on the list and is the third largest Indian IT firm to benefit from H1B visa policies. Over 5,274 US work visa applications by TCS received approval from the US government in 2024.

Apart from the three IT majors, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, HCL, etc were also among the top beneficiaries of H1b visa policy. Top US companies that were featured in the list included Tesla, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Apple. Elon Musk's electric vehicle maker received over 1767 H1B visa approval. These US firms managed to get approval for over thousands of H-1B visa approval, which is essential for filing specialised roles within engineering, research, and development fields-critical to their global competitiveness.