USCIS H1B Data Hub – Verify Employers Denials, Approvals

USCIS launched H1B Data Hub in 2019 as part of its transparency efforts to make H1B Program data available to the public. Prior to the launch, we only had H1B LCA data that was published by DOL, but USCIS data was not fully published by employer with full details.

As part of their transparency efforts, they launched H1B Employer Data Hub on April 1^st, 2019. This article will look at how to use it and what you can derive.

What is H1B Employer Data Hub ? What Data does it contain ?

H1B Employer Data hub provides information on H1B employers’ approvals, denials and their basic info like NAICS Code, Zip code, etc. for all those employers, who filed petitions with USCIS in the past 13 years from FY 2009 to FY 2022. They have given a simple interface for anyone to search and review information of that employer. It is aimed towards transparency for everyone.

How to use H1B Employer Data Hub ?

All you need to do is go to the H1B Employer Data Hub on USCIS website and search by entering details of employer, zip code, state or selecting NAICS Code as shown below.  You do not have to enter any field or filter as well, you can just hit search and it will display the entire results.

The results will be displayed in table as listed below. Due to space constraint, the columns are abbreviated and they have a specific meaning. The table also lists the zip codes and tax ID that was tied to the H1B petition filed. All of this data is coming from I-129 Form filed with USCIS by the H1B employer. Let’s look at them in detail below.

Check out short video on how to use and search using H1B Data Hub

How to read the results in H1B Employer Data Hub? What does fields in it mean?

All the data is based on the I-129 form that was filed by employers with USCIS with the H1B Petition. If we look at the results screenshot above, you can see the columns.  All of the data is aggregated in total by fiscal year listed in the results. Let’s look at the fields individually.

• Fiscal Year : This is the fiscal year in which the decision of H1B was recorded in USCIS system. USCIS fiscal year starts from Oct 1^st and lasts till Sept 30^th of next year. The data corresponds to the fiscal year in which the petition was adjudicated, rather than filed with USCIS.
• Employer : This is the employer name that was used in I-129 form on Page 1, Part 1.
• State : This corresponds to the state that is indicated in the mailing address of the employer and not necessarily the work location address of applicant . It is from Form I-129 page 1, Part 1, Question 3.
• City : This corresponds to the city that is indicated in the mailing address of the employer and not necessarily  the work location address of applicant. It is from Form I-129 page 1, Part 1, Question 3.
• Zip : This corresponds to the zip code that is indicated in the mailing address of the employer and not necessarily  the work location address of applicant. It is from Form I-129 page 1, Part 1, Question 3.  All of these are in below screenshot from I-129 form.
• Initial Approval : The Initial Approval is the total approvals count for H1B petitions filed as “New Employment” or “New Concurrent Employment “ as indicated in the I-129 form Part 2 by selecting ‘a’ and/or ‘d’ for Question 2 by employer as shown in below screenshot.
• Initial Denial : The Initial Denial data is the total denials count for H1B petitions filed as “New Employment” or “New Concurrent Employment “ as indicated in the I-129 form Part 2 by selecting ‘a’ and/or ‘d’ for Question 2 by employer as shown in below screenshot.
• Continuing Approval : The Continuing Approval data is the total approvals count for H1B petitions NOT filed as “New Employment” or “New Concurrent Employment “ as indicated in the I-129 form Part 2 by selecting ‘b’, ‘c’, ‘e’, or ‘f’ for Question 2 by employer as shown in below screenshot. It is usually for amendments, transfers with change of employers, extensions.
• Continuing Denial : The Continuing Denial data is the total denials count for H1B petitions filed NOT filed as “New Employment” or “New Concurrent Employment “ as indicated in the I-129 form Part 2 by selecting ‘b’, ‘c’, ‘e’, or ‘f’ for Question 2 by employer as shown in below screenshot. It is usually for amendments, transfers with change of employers, extensions.
• NAICS : This column corresponds to the North American Industry Classification System Code, that is used in Form I-129, Page 19, Section 1, Question 6. Looks like below screenshot. You can find more info at NAICS Webpage on the codes
• Tax ID : This data is the last four digits of Tax ID used in I-129 form, page I, part 1, question 5

H1B Employer Data Hub  – Data Updates :

USCIS mentioned that they will update the database and provide quarterly updates of the H1B petitions filed with them. It will be cumulative, meaning it adds up to the existing data in the database and they will not remove old data.  The update cycle is delayed by a quarter for data entry purpose. E.g. data for 1^st quarter Oct to Dec for fiscal year will be provided in April of next year.

Accuracy of Data, Download .CSV Files

As a word of caution, USCIS mentions that there may be some data issues as these are manual paper forms and data entry errors would occur either from the filing employer side or in data entry.  Additionally, USCIS also publishes all of this data in .CSV files format for anyone to view them and work with them as part of their disclosure. You can check it here

Overall, it is a good initiative by USCIS to help give some transparency for H1B applicants and public to review a firm sponsoring H1B, before joining that company and letting them sponsor H1B.

What do you think of this H1B Data Hub initiative ? Share your thoughts in comments below.

Reference : Press Release, H1B Employer Data Hub Info