Green-card sponsors that skip H-1B
The biggest employers sponsoring permanent residency (green cards / PERM) almost entirely outside the H-1B route, meat & poultry plants, food & ag, trucking, facilities, and healthcare aides. Ranked by green-card cases, FY2017–2026.
These are green-card (PERM) filings, not H-1B. H-1B needs a specialty occupation at bachelor's-degree level, which line jobs like poultry cutting don't meet, so these employers sponsor permanent residency directly and almost none of their cases started on H-1B.
| # | Employer | PERM filings | Via H-1B | Came from | Median wage | Top role |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Koch Foods | 4,497 | 0.2% | Abroad48% | $26k | Poultry Processors |
| 2 | FPL Foods | 3,551 | 0% | Abroad93% | $30k | Meat Cutter and Trimmer |
| 3 | Wayne Farms LLC | 3,065 | 0% | Abroad87% | $27k | Poultry Cutter and Trimmer |
| 4 | Labor Guys, LLC | 2,758 | 0% | Abroad77% | $30k | Helpers-Production Workers |
| 5 | Consolidated Catfish Producers, LLC | 2,593 | 0% | Abroad81% | $22k | Fish Cutter and Trimmer |
| 6 | Stoughton Trailers, LLC | 2,343 | 0% | Abroad75% | $37k | Assembler |
| 7 | EPAM | 2,168 | 23.4% | L-1 transfer72% | $104k | Software Developers, Applications |
| 8 | South Georgia Pecan Company | 1,840 | 0% | Abroad72% | $20k | Pecan Packers |
| 9 | Case Farms Processing, Inc | 1,783 | 0.1% | Abroad90% | $32k | Poultry Production Line Worker (General Labor) |
| 10 | Skilled in Management | 1,485 | 0% | Abroad100% | $31k | Nursing Aide |
| 11 | MVT Services LLC, | 1,444 | 0% | Abroad100% | $31k | Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers |
| 12 | Merit Logistics | 1,441 | 0% | Abroad67% | $26k | Freight Handler |
| 13 | Conexus Medstaff LLC | 1,364 | 2.9% | Abroad97% | $54k | Medical Technologist |
| 14 | Prestigious Placement | 1,158 | 0% | Abroad98% | $21k | Order Packer |
| 15 | National HealthCare Corporation | 1,124 | 0% | Abroad100% | $33k | Nursing Assistant |
| 16 | Peco Foods, Inc | 1,115 | 0% | Abroad92% | $29k | Poultry Processing Worker |
| 17 | Abbyland Foods, Inc | 1,095 | 0.4% | F-1 student62% | $28k | General Labor Line Worker |
| 18 | GDI Services Inc. | 1,037 | 0% | Abroad98% | $23k | Janitor |
| 19 | Akash Management LLC | 876 | 0% | — | $32k | Crew Member |
| 20 | Norman W. Fries, Inc | 826 | 0% | F-1 student69% | $24k | Poultry Processor |
| 21 | Defender Services, Inc. | 810 | 0% | Abroad96% | $17k | Packers and Packagers, Hand |
| 22 | Dakota Provisions, LLC | 768 | 2.2% | F-1 student75% | $25k | Packers and Packagers, Hand |
| 23 | Nature's Way Farms, LLC | 687 | 0% | — | $27k | Laborer |
| 24 | Health Carousel, LLC | 685 | 9.3% | Abroad91% | $46k | Medical Technologist |
| 25 | Omega Compliance Solutions | 669 | 0% | B-1 business98% | $48k | Truck Driver |
| 26 | George's Processing, Inc. | 662 | 2.7% | F-1 student65% | $23k | Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers |
| 27 | Perdue Foods LLC | 641 | 1% | Temporary Protected Status62% | $23k | Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers |
| 28 | May Trucking Company | 607 | 0% | Abroad100% | $43k | Truck Driver |
| 29 | Riverview LLP | 588 | 5.2% | TN professional76% | $44k | Animal Scientist |
| 30 | Controlled Contamination Services | 564 | 0% | Abroad91% | $30k | Janitor |
| 31 | PruittHealth | 546 | 0% | Abroad100% | $33k | Nursing Assistant |
| 32 | Williams Sausage Company, Inc. | 536 | 0% | F-1 student78% | $23k | Meat Processor |
| 33 | West Liberty Foods, LLC | 531 | 0% | F-1 student53% | $33k | Meat Packer |
| 34 | Morgan Corp. | 528 | 0% | Abroad97% | $36k | Production Associate [Mtb-Wi0003] |
| 35 | Harrison Poultry Inc | 503 | 0% | Abroad89% | $20k | Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers |
| 36 | Marjac Poultry, Inc | 314 | 0% | Abroad50% | $18k | Poultry worker |
Among the green-card (PERM) cases that disclose entry status (FY2017–2024): “Via H-1B” is the share who were on H-1B, “Came from” is their most common non-H-1B entry status, and “Abroad” means sponsored from overseas (consular processing), not converting from a U.S. visa.