Software Engineer H-1B Visa Sponsorship USA 2026
The H-1B specialty occupation visa remains the primary US immigration pathway for international software engineers. In FY2026, approximately 500,000 registrations compete for 85,000 slots — a ~17% lottery probability.
Cap-Exempt H-1B Employers (No Lottery)
Cap-exempt employers can file H-1B petitions at any time:
- MIT Lincoln Laboratory — AI, systems, defence engineering
- Stanford University — ML researchers, platform engineers
- Johns Hopkins APL — government-contract software engineers
- SRI International — AI, cybersecurity engineers
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory — flight software engineers
Top Cap-Subject H-1B Tech Sponsors 2026
| Company | FY2025 H-1B Petitions | Approval Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon | ~38,000 | ~98% |
| ~22,000 | ~99% | |
| Microsoft | ~20,500 | ~98% |
| Meta | ~8,000 | ~97% |
| Apple | ~7,500 | ~96% |
STEM OPT Strategy
US STEM graduates get 36 months of OPT work authorization — 3 lottery attempts while employed legally at sponsoring companies.
Prevailing Wages 2026 (Selected Markets)
| Role | San Francisco | New York | Seattle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software Developer | $158,000 | $147,000 | $142,000 |
| Data Scientist | $165,000 | $152,000 | $148,000 |
| ML Engineer | $172,000 | $160,000 | $155,000 |
Browse US tech visa jobs or match your CV to FAANG sponsors today.