Cap-exempt H-1B employers: the full list

Why there is no official list

The annual H-1B cap (65,000 visas plus 20,000 for US advanced-degree holders) is set by section 214(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Section 214(g)(5) says that the cap does not apply to a worker who is employed, or has an offer of employment, at one of several kinds of organisation. The regulation at 8 CFR 214.2(h)(8)(iii)(F) repeats and refines the categories. Neither the statute nor the regulation names any employer; the exemption attaches to the facts of each petition, and the petitioner claims it by answering the cap-exemption questions in the H Classification Supplement of Form I-129 and attaching evidence.

Because the determination is made on each petition, two things follow. First, an employer can be cap-exempt for one position and cap-subject for another (for example, a university's commercial subsidiary). Second, a list such as this one can only say that an employer appears to qualify and has obtained approvals in the past; it cannot say that any future petition will be approved as exempt.

Who is on the list

Four kinds of employer are covered by the exemption, and the register tags each entry with the ground that appears to apply:

1. Institutions of higher education as defined in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act: public and private nonprofit, accredited or pre-accredited, degree-granting colleges and universities, including community colleges and stand-alone medical schools. This is the largest group (964 entries) and the one that is close to complete.
2. Nonprofit entities related to or affiliated with such an institution: teaching hospitals, health systems, faculty practice plans, university research foundations and similar bodies tied to a university by ownership, control, membership or a written affiliation agreement (62 entries so far).
3. Nonprofit research organizations primarily engaged in basic or applied research (1 so far).
4. Governmental research organizations, federal, state or local, whose primary mission is research (1 so far).

Grounds 2 to 4 are under-represented because each entry has to be verified individually from IRS filings and affiliation documents; the register grows by a weekly review pass.

Who is not on it

• For-profit universities and colleges. The Higher Education Act definition requires a public or nonprofit institution.
• Hospitals and health systems with no university affiliation, however large.
• Government agencies whose mission is not research (a state transport department, a city), even though they employ scientists.
• Employers that fall under the exemption only for a specific placement, such as a contractor whose worker is employed at a university. The register lists petitioning employers, not placements.
• Employers whose record did not pass the automatic checks or was rejected on review. Absence from the list is not a finding that an employer is cap-subject.

How each entry was built

The starting point is the USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub, which names every petitioner with approval counts by fiscal year. Those names were matched to the Department of Education's IPEDS directory of accredited institutions, with the last four digits of the Employer Identification Number as a cross-check. Entries that passed carry an IPEDS match badge. Entries that an editor then checked by hand, confirming the legal entity, its nonprofit status and full EIN against IRS filings, and locating a document that shows the affiliation or accreditation, carry a Verified badge and a link to that evidence. The method page describes the tests and the sources in detail.

Each entry also shows what the employer actually hires on H-1B, from the Department of Labor's FY2025 Labor Condition Application disclosure data grouped by occupation with median offered wages. That is often the most useful column: a university with 400 approvals that are all postdoctoral researchers is a different prospect from a medical center hiring software developers and nurses.

Using the list

• Filter by state if you need to stay where you are; the by-state page gives counts.
• Filter by occupation to find employers that have certified LCAs for your kind of work; the filter also searches the titles of live openings.
• Tick has live openings to see only employers whose career site is connected and currently has postings.
• Open an employer's page for the legal entity, EIN, evidence link, the careers site and the full list of its openings.

When you apply, the employer's HR or international office will know whether the position is one it files as cap-exempt. Ask early; most universities and teaching hospitals have a standing process for it.

This is not legal advice. The register and this guide summarise public law and public data for general information. Cap exemption is determined by USCIS for each petition; the "related or affiliated nonprofit" test in particular depends on facts that differ from one employer to another. Confirm with the employer and a licensed immigration attorney before relying on any entry. CapExempt is independent and not affiliated with any US government agency.