FY 2013-2025: H-1B Petitions Filed & Approved
USCIS H-1B petition data from FY 2013 through FY 2025, visualized with long-term trends, standout years, and the mix of initial and continuing employment filings.
H-1B statistics are usually presented as snapshots: the annual cap, a registration season, or a single approval total. Look across the full series, though, and a more revealing picture appears. The H-1B program has grown, dipped, rebounded, and carried a large continuing-employment workload alongside initial-employment cases.
This article follows that story through USCIS data from FY 2013 through FY 2025. Filings rose from 299,467 to 456,725, with FY 2022 marking the high point and FY 2025 close behind. In the more detailed FY 2020-2024 breakdown, continuing-employment cases were the larger share every year.
The figures come from USCIS H-1B reports submitted to Congress through the Department of Homeland Security. One caution matters as you read: petitions received in a fiscal year and petitions approved in that same year are not necessarily the same cases. These totals show the program’s activity and scale, not an individual approval chance.
Thirteen Years of H-1B Petition Volume
The annual series shows the program expanding from just under 300,000 petitions received in FY 2013 to more than 450,000 in FY 2025. It also shows that growth has not been a straight line. The approved column counts decisions recorded during each fiscal year, while the received column counts petitions received during that year.
| Fiscal year | Petitions received | Petitions approved |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 456,725 | 328,185 |
| 2024 | 427,091 | 399,402 |
| 2023 | 386,584 | 386,340 |
| 2022 | 474,301 | 442,043 |
| 2021 | 398,269 | 407,071 |
| 2020 | 427,245 | 426,710 |
| 2019 | 420,577 | 389,378 |
| 2018 | 418,607 | 334,961 |
| 2017 | 403,157 | 373,392 |
| 2016 | 398,803 | 357,211 |
| 2015 | 348,669 | 275,317 |
| 2014 | 318,824 | 315,857 |
| 2013 | 299,467 | 286,773 |
Annual H-1B petition totals provide program-level context.
FY 2021 through FY 2025 totals are reproduced in the CIS-hosted copy of USCIS’s Fiscal Year 2025: H-1B Petitions. USCIS notes that reporting methods changed over time, so comparisons across the entire 2013-2025 series need care.
Five Standout Facts From the Series
The program’s annual filing volume grew by 53% from FY 2013 to FY 2025. That is an increase of more than 157,000 petitions, even after allowing for several years of decline or slower growth.
FY 2022 is still the high-water mark. USCIS received 474,301 petitions that year. FY 2025 was the second-highest year in the series at 456,725.
FY 2025 combines two opposing movements. Petitions received rose by 29,634 from FY 2024, while approvals recorded during the year fell by 71,217. It is the widest annual difference in the table.
The annual approval total can look surprising. In FY 2021, USCIS recorded more approvals than petitions received because annual receipt and decision timetables differ.
The cap season is only one part of the H-1B program. Continuing-employment filings made up roughly 65% to 72% of filings in each year for which this more detailed breakdown is available.
Where the H-1B Volume Comes From
The FY 2020-2024 breakdown separates new or concurrent H-1B employment from continuing cases such as extensions, amendments, and changes of employer. The latter is the larger category in every year shown. The program’s long-term activity is therefore not driven only by new cap cases; much of the annual volume comes from workers already inside the H-1B pipeline.
| Fiscal year | Petitions received | Petitions approved | Initial-employment filings | Continuing-employment filings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 427,245 | 426,710 | 124,851 | 302,394 |
| 2021 | 398,269 | 407,071 | 112,339 | 285,930 |
| 2022 | 474,301 | 442,043 | 150,363 | 323,938 |
| 2023 | 386,559 | 386,318 | 114,247 | 272,312 |
| 2024 | 427,084 | 399,395 | 151,580 | 275,504 |
Initial employment includes new and concurrent H-1B employment. Continuing employment includes extensions, amendments, and changes of employer for workers already in the U.S. FY 2023 and FY 2024 totals differ slightly from the annual table because this detailed USCIS report uses revised figures.
The story in the first chart
The long view is not a steady climb. The annual receipt total rose through FY 2017, stayed above 400,000 through FY 2020, then reached its high point in FY 2022. After a dip in FY 2023, it returned near that peak in FY 2025. The approval line follows a different rhythm because annual receipts and decisions do not move on the same timetable.
The story in the second chart
H-1B is not simply a yearly pipeline of new lottery cases. Extensions, amendments, and employer changes make up the larger share of annual H-1B activity. That context is easy to lose when attention is fixed on the annual cap. It is also why all-petition totals are much larger than a cap-season headline might suggest.
FY 2025: More Filings, Fewer Approvals
FY 2025 stands out because receipts rose while recorded approvals fell sharply from the prior year. USCIS recorded 456,725 petitions received, 29,634 more than FY 2024 and the second-highest total in this series. It recorded 328,185 approvals, 71,217 fewer than FY 2024.
That mismatch describes annual receipt and decision volume, not individual outcomes. USCIS cautions that petitions received in one period are not necessarily adjudicated in that same period.
Sources
This article uses a CIS-hosted copy of USCIS’s FY 2025 H-1B petition report for FY 2021 through FY 2025 annual totals and historical USCIS reporting for earlier context. The FY 2020-2024 breakdown comes from the USCIS Characteristics of H-1B Specialty Occupation Workers report for FY 2024. USCIS reporting methods changed over time, so comparisons across the full series require care.
Annual petition receipts and annual approvals are different measures. USCIS may approve a petition received in an earlier fiscal year, so the two totals should not be divided to create an approval rate.