Following the publication of our latest story "H-1B Middlemen Bring Cheap Labor to Citi, Capital One", we're providing an updated version of the data with an un-redacted "DOL_ETA_CASE_NUMBER" column. You can now link this data with Labor Condition Application data publicly released by the DOL to gain additional information about end clients, prevailing wages and more.
Bloomberg News obtained data on all H-1B lottery registrations, selections, and petitions for fiscal years 2021 through 2024 after bringing a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security under the Freedom of Information Act.
You can use this repository to reproduce findings featured in our story "Thousands of US Work Visas Are Going to Middlemen Gaming the System". Our methodology is described at the bottom of the article.
This data was produced by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an agency under DHS tasked with adjudicating H-1B petitions. Every April, the USCIS conducts a random lottery to determine which H-1B seekers can submit full visa petitions.
Each row in the data represents a lottery registration, which may or may not correspond to a unique individual because each candidate can have multiple registrations submitted by different employers. Once selected, the employer can submit an H-1B petition on behalf of the beneficiary. In case of a visa petition, the data includes more information about the proposed job, including salary, location, etc.
An approved H-1B petition is necessary for, but does not always result in, an H-1B visa, which is a travel document. After an applicant receives an H-1B approval from the USCIS, they can apply for either an H-1B visa at a US Consulate abroad or an Adjustment of Status with the USCIS if they're already in the US.
Please cite the data as sourced from USCIS and obtained by Bloomberg. Email Bloomberg reporter Eric Fan at xfan134@bloomberg.net if you have any questions.
| File Name | Description |
|---|---|
TRK_13139_I129_H1B_Registrations_FY21_FY24_FOIA_FIN.xlsx |
Data Dictionary |
TRK_13139_FY2021.csv |
FY 2021 data (April 2020 lottery) |
TRK_13139_FY2022.csv |
FY 2022 data (April 2021 lottery) |
TRK_13139_FY2023.csv |
FY 2023 data (April 2022 lottery; this large file is borken into 3 zip files) |
TRK_13139_FY2024_single_reg.csv |
FY 2024 data (April 2023 lottery), single registrations |
TRK_13139_FY2024_multi_reg.csv |
FY 2024 data (April 2023 lottery), multiple registrations |