Indian IT firms hit by rising H-1B rejections, US tech giants surge ahead
Indian IT companies are getting fewer H-1B visas approved in 2025—rejection rates ticked up to 2.8% (from 2.5% last year), and total approvals for the top seven firms fell by 37% compared to 2024.
That's a huge drop from where things stood a decade ago, even though rejection rates are still way below the all-time high of 24% back in 2018.
What's changing for Indian IT?
Big players like TCS and Cognizant saw their visa approvals nearly halved this year, with TCS announcing it "will not hire new H-1B employees in the coming year," and focusing more on hiring locally in the US.
This shift is about adapting to tougher visa rules and making use of offshore teams.
Meanwhile, US tech firms aren't slowing down
While Indian companies struggle, US giants like Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Google keep racking up H-1B approvals with denial rates under 1%.
Amazon alone filed thousands of new petitions as these companies pour billions into AI and tech talent—making it clear who's winning the global hiring game right now.