The H-1B visa programme may look smooth on paper, but employers say the ground reality is becoming far more difficult.

For fiscal year 2025, H-1B approval rates remained very high at nearly 98 per cent. At first glance, this suggests that the programme continues to be strong and welcoming for skilled foreign workers.

But immigration experts say the headline number does not tell the full story.

According to attorneys and employers, the challenge is no longer just about getting an H-1B petition approved. The bigger problem now lies in the process itself — more paperwork, closer scrutiny, longer timelines and rising compliance costs.

Maryland-based immigration attorney Kevin J Andrews says the H-1B approval rate for FY2025 is steady at around 98 per cent, but the operating environment for FY2026 appears much harder.

He says the “friction” has moved from the final decision to the structure of the application process.

In simple terms, employers may still be getting approvals, but they are having to work much harder to get there.

Andrews explains that the H-1B Modernization Final Rule, finalised in December 2024 and effective from January 17, 2025, actually relaxed some specialty occupation standards. The rule clarified that a degree “normally” required for a job does not mean it must “always” be required.

It also defined a “directly related” degree as one having a logical connection with the job duties, instead of requiring the degree title to closely match the job title. The rule also gave more importance to third-party job requirements in placement cases and codified deference to prior approvals.

However, the bigger question is how these rules are being implemented by USCIS officers.

Andrews says there is no clear evidence in the data that H-1B adjudications have become stricter in the same way they did during the first Trump administration. In FY2025, the approval rate stood at 97.9 per cent across more than 4.15 lakh adjudications, while the fourth quarter approval rate was 97.5 per cent.

There is also no published USCIS policy memo in 2025 imposing a higher evidentiary standard.

Still, employers and attorneys are feeling more pressure.

The reason, according to Andrews, is operational friction. More documents are being requested. Processing is taking longer. There is more vetting, more routing and more questioning, especially in cases involving third-party placements.

“The legal bar did not move. The amount of paper required to clear it did,” he said.

This is different from the first Trump administration, when a sharp rise in Requests for Evidence on specialty occupation and Level 1 wage cases pushed approval rates down dramatically. At that time, RFE rates stood around 38 to 40 per cent in FY2018 and FY2019.

This time, the pressure appears more subtle.

Indian professionals and India-based consulting firms are also seeing a major shift in the H-1B landscape.

Data shows that the top seven India-based IT firms received 4,573 initial-employment H-1B approvals in FY2025. That was a 37 per cent drop from FY2024 and a 70 per cent decline from FY2015.

For the first time, the top four H-1B employers in FY2025 were all American companies — Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Google.

Amazon alone secured more initial approvals than the top seven Indian IT companies combined.

Experts say this shift is driven by several factors, including increased local hiring by Indian firms in the US, the ability to perform work outside America and rapid technology changes.

The CEO of TCS has also reportedly said the company would not hire new H-1B employees in the coming year.

The message for employers is clear. H-1B approvals may still be high, but the environment is becoming tougher.

For FY2026 and beyond, companies will need stronger documentation, better compliance systems and more careful planning before filing petitions.

The approval rate may say 98 per cent, but the path to that approval is becoming more expensive, more detailed and more uncertain.