Which NC companies (and school systems) get the most H-1B foreign worker visas?
Between the tech-focused Research Triangle and Charlotte’s corporate headquarters, North Carolina draws a large number of educated foreign workers on H-1B visas, a specialized permit employers use to fill positions that lack qualified U.S. candidates.
Controversy around the program isn’t new, and the H-1B debate made headlines again late last week when President Donald Trump ordered employers to pay a $100,000 fee for all future visa applications. This rule must withstand legal challenges, and Trump’s order enables his administration to exempt certain companies and industries, but as it stands today, the fee would alter how employers big and small use a visa that previously cost a few thousand dollars per application.
“The large-scale replacement of American workers through systemic abuse of the program has undermined both our economic and national security,” Trump wrote in his Sept. 19 proclamation.
H-1B supporters counter that while loopholes that suppress wages should be closed, the program overall spurs innovation by addressing shortages and allowing educated internationals to contribute to the economy. Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and IBM CEO Arvind Krishna each moved to the U.S. through the program, and today, the companies they led rank among the top visa recipients in the annual lottery.
How many H-1B visas do NC employers get?
This year, nearly 1,000 North Carolina employers received approximately 7,000 H-1B visas, according to data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. IBM had the most with just under 1,600 visas, followed by Bank of America, Lowe’s, and Truist Bank. Yet these figures don’t indicate how many H-1B holders actually work in the state. This is because employers can apply for visas using a centralized mailing address and then place workers nationwide.
Thus, the USCIS database records IBM having 1,600 H-1B visa approvals in North Carolina this year while the company in fact had that many approved for the whole country. Similarly, companies like Fidelity Investments and Wells Fargo don’t show as having any North Carolina H-1B visas despite both maintaining large offices in the state.
Another gauge of H-1B demand is how many visas are obtained by North Carolina’s biggest overall employers. Four times a year, the state posts the top 300 hirers statewide, with the current list updated through March 2025. Walmart is North Carolina’s largest employer, followed by Duke University, Charlotte Mecklenburg Hospital, and Food Lion. Three of the state’s top employers — Walmart, Amazon, and Bank of America — also got the most H-1B visas in 2025.
How many H-1B visa holders live in NC?
How many H-1B holders actually live in North Carolina, then? Visas can extend up to six years, though workers who start green card applications may remain in the program as long as their employer continues to sponsor them.
According to U.S. Department of Labor data, which encompasses three temporary work visa programs, approximately 31,400 people were placed in the state at the end of last year. Of these three programs, H-1B awards the most visas by a significant margin.
There are around 5.3 million workers in North Carolina’s civilian labor force according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which would mean H-1B holders account for less than 0.6% of the state workforce.
This story was originally published September 23, 2025 at 5:22 PM.
