Data | Trump era H-1B woes end, visa approval rates, wages peak under Biden

Since President Biden took over, H-1B visa approval rates surpassed those seen in the Obama period and peaked at 98%. The median wage of H-1B workers also matches the top 10% of U.S. earners

During the Donald Trump era, H-1B workers, a majority of whom are Indians, had a hard time. The visa approval rate sharply dropped to 72% from over 95% during Barack Obama’s presidency. The share of Chinese nationals consistently rose among H-1B workers as the share of Indians declined. While the share of H-1B workers in American companies kept increasing, Indian companies struggled to get H-1B permits. However, since Joe Biden took over as President, the situation has changed. H-1B visa approval rates have surpassed those seen in the Obama period and peaked at 98%. The share of Indian companies in H-1B workers has improved and the share of Indians in H-1B permits has started to climb again. The median wage of H-1B workers matches the top 10% of U.S. earners.

The chart sourced from Cato Institute shows the median wage of all U.S. workers and H-1B visa workers and the wages at the 90th percentile for U.S. workers. In 2021, the median wage of H-1B workers moved past the 90th percentile wages, a first since 2003. Also, the gap between the median wages of H-1B workers and all U.S. workers has widenend over time.

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The chart plots the approval rate of H-1B visas between October 2015 and December 2021. The approval rate recorded sharp drops during Donald Trump’s presidency. In November 2018, it touched a low of 72.6%. However, under President Biden, the approval rate has surged again and has remained above 95% so far.

The table lists the share of a company in the total H-1B visas approved each year. Before 2018, Indian companies such as Infosys, Wipro, TCS and CTS (U.S.-based firm with heavy dependency on India-based workers) hired a lion’s share of H-1B workers. Post-2018 their share waned and the % of U.S. firms surged. Since 2021, the share of some Indian firms has seen a revival.

The chart shows the demographic make-up of approved H-1B petitions. For instance, in 2021, 75% of approved H-1B workers were Indian, 16% were Chinese and 9% were from other countries. The sharp rise in the share of the Chinese was arrested in 2021 and the Indian share started to grow again.

Source: Cato Institute, USCIS