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H1B Salary

H-1B cap-exempt employers

The 790 cap-exempt H-1B sponsors in our DOL data, ranked by filing volume: 523 in higher education, 174 university-affiliated hospitals, 93 research organizations & national labs.

Which employers are H-1B cap-exempt (no lottery)?

H-1B cap-exempt employers sponsor WITHOUT the annual lottery and can file year-round: institutions of higher education (universities and colleges), nonprofits affiliated with them (university hospitals, research foundations), and nonprofit or government research organizations. By H-1B volume the largest include University of Michigan, Stanford University, Mayo Clinic, Mount Sinai Health System, and Johns Hopkins University. If you missed the wage-weighted cap lottery, a cap-exempt employer is a no-lottery path.

Cap-exempt status is decided per employer by USCIS on nonprofit status, higher-ed affiliation, or research mission. This ranks sponsors in the cap-exempt categories from their DOL name + industry code; a specific employer (especially a hospital) may not qualify, so confirm with the employer or an attorney before relying on it.
#Employer & categoryH-1B filings
1University of MichiganHigher ed5,1622Stanford UniversityHigher ed4,5043Mayo ClinicHigher ed4,4154Mount Sinai Health SystemHospital3,8985Johns Hopkins UniversityHigher ed3,5166University of PennsylvaniaHigher ed3,3387University of IllinoisHigher ed3,1518Columbia UniversityHigher ed2,9719Washington UniversityHigher ed2,94010University of California, San FranciscoHigher ed2,78011Massachusetts General HospitalHospital2,70412Emory UniversityHigher ed2,67013National Institutes of Health, HHSResearch / lab2,65514University of PittsburghHigher ed2,65215Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterHospital2,48716University of FloridaHigher ed2,47617Northwestern UniversityHigher ed2,44718Yale UniversityHigher ed2,42719Indiana UniversityHigher ed2,40120University of IowaHigher ed2,39921University of ChicagoHigher ed2,37422UT Southwestern Medical CenterHospital2,34923Harvard UniversityHigher ed2,34024St. Jude Children's Research HospitalHospital2,29625University of MinnesotaHigher ed2,28226Purdue UniversityHigher ed2,22927Duke UniversityHigher ed2,20528University of Alabama at BirminghamHigher ed2,12829University of Wisconsin SystemHigher ed2,12630Texas A&M UniversityHigher ed2,08931New York UniversityHigher ed2,08032Oak Ridge National LaboratoryResearch / lab2,03833Ohio State UniversityHigher ed1,98034University of California, San DiegoHigher ed1,96535University of California, Los AngelesHigher ed1,92536University of ArkansasHigher ed1,88537Princeton UniversityHigher ed1,87238University of Southern CaliforniaHigher ed1,85839University of VirginiaHigher ed1,85640Penn State University ParkHigher ed1,81741Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyHigher ed1,81642Baylor College of MedicineHigher ed1,77943University of UtahHigher ed1,75944Rutgers UniversityHigher ed1,75045University of WashingtonHigher ed1,72746University of Texas at AustinHigher ed1,72547Brigham and Women's HospitalHospital1,69648University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer CenterHospital1,67349University of California, DavisHigher ed1,65650Michigan State UniversityHigher ed1,63751University of ColoradoHigher ed1,61152Henry Ford Health SystemHospital1,60153University of California, BerkeleyHigher ed1,57054University of MissouriHigher ed1,53855Texas Tech UniversityHigher ed1,52956Cornell UniversityHigher ed1,48457University of MarylandHigher ed1,48058Arizona State UniversityHigher ed1,47359Weill Cornell Medical CollegeHigher ed1,47160Battelle Memorial InstituteResearch / lab1,469

Cap-exempt eligibility here is a proxy from the employer's name + dominant NAICS industry code (higher-ed = NAICS 6112/6113; research = 5417 + research names; hospitals by name), excluding K-12 school districts, for-profit hospital chains, health-IT vendors, staffing firms, and for-profit pharma.