Volunteer State News

In 2024, 4,649 of the 4,727 H-1B petitions submitted by employers based in Tennessee were approved, according to data provided by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services via the H-1B Employer Data Hub.

This represents an approval rate of 98.3%, which is higher than the nationwide average.

In 2024, the average approval rate for H-1B petitions across the U.S. stood at 98%, slightly higher than the 97.3% recorded in 2023.

The H-1B visa program allows U.S. employers to temporarily hire foreign workers in specialty occupations requiring specialized knowledge and at least a bachelor’s degree or equivalent. It is designed to address skill gaps in the U.S. workforce while ensuring wage standards to protect both U.S. and H-1B workers. Employers must certify that they will pay H-1B workers wages equal to or greater than those of similarly qualified U.S. employees or the prevailing local wage. 

The Manufacturing industry led H-1B petition approvals in Tennessee during 2024, filing a total of 1,038 petitions (22% of all submissions) and receiving 1,016 approvals, resulting in an approval rate of 97.9%. The Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services industry followed, with 997 petitions (21.1% of all submissions), receiving 970 approvals and an approval rate of 97.3%.

Employers are classified under industries based on their reported operations and may be involved in multiple industries.

The Tennessee employers with the most approvals during 2024 included Cummins, Inc., filing a total of 718 petitions and receiving 699 approvals, resulting in an approval rate of 97.4%, and UT Battelle ORNL, LLC, which filed 231 petitions and received 230 approvals, resulting in an approval rate of 99.6%.

Compared to 2023, Tennessee saw a 3.2% increase in the number of H-1B petitions during 2024.

The United States admits around 1 million legal immigrants annually, most of whom receive permanent residence (green cards) through family sponsorship or employment-based visas. In 2023, about 1.2 million immigrants were granted green cards, a return to pre-pandemic levels. Temporary visa programs, such as the H-1B for highly skilled workers and H-2A for seasonal agricultural workers, also play a critical role in filling workforce needs.

Public opinion on immigration varies, with 46% of Americans favoring maintaining current legal immigration levels, according to a 2024 Pew Research Center survey. Additionally, 42% believe that highly skilled workers, such as scientists, doctors, and programmers, should be prioritized for legal immigration, compared to 25% who prioritize workers filling labor shortages and 19% who emphasize family sponsorship. Despite this, family sponsorship remains the most common path to permanent residency, accounting for 63% of green cards issued in 2023.

The data in this article comes from the H-1B Employer Data Hub provided by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). While USCIS strives for accuracy, manual data entry and errors on paper forms submitted by applicants or petitioners may result in discrepancies in employer names, tax IDs, locations, or other details.

Rank	Industry	Total Petitions	% of All Submissions	Approved Petitions	% Approved	% Denied
1	Manufacturing	1,038	22%	1,016	97.9%	2.1%
2	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	997	21.1%	970	97.3%	2.7%
3	Health Care and Social Assistance	827	17.5%	817	98.8%	1.2%
4	Finance and Insurance	556	11.8%	555	99.8%	0.2%
5	Educational Services	375	7.9%	370	98.7%	1.3%
6	Transportation and Warehousing	320	6.8%	317	99.1%	0.9%
7	Retail Trade	179	3.8%	179	100%	0%
8	Management of Companies and Enterprises	131	2.8%	128	97.7%	2.3%
9	Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services	100	2.1%	96	96%	4%
10	Wholesale Trade	47	1%	47	100%	0%
11	Information	44	0.9%	44	100%	0%
12	Public Administration	14	0.3%	14	100%	0%
13	Construction	9	0.2%	9	100%	0%
14	Other Services (except Public Administration)	8	0.2%	7	87.5%	12.5%
15	Accommodation and Food Services	5	0.1%	5	100%	0%
16	Real Estate and Rental and Leasing	4	0.1%	4	100%	0%
16	Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction	4	0.1%	4	100%	0%
18	Utilities	3	0.1%	3	100%	0%
19	Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation	2	~0%	2	100%	0%
20	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	2	~0%	1	50%	50%

Rank	Company Name	Industry(ies)	Total Petitions	Approved Petitions	% Approved	% Denied
1	Cummins, Inc.	Manufacturing	718	699	97.4%	2.6%
2	UT Battelle ORNL, LLC	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	231	230	99.6%	0.4%
3	St. Jude Children S Research Hospital	Health Care and Social Assistance	228	227	99.6%	0.4%
4	UBS Business Solutions US, LLC	Finance and Insurance	225	225	100%	0%
5	The University of Tennessee	Educational Services	176	174	98.9%	1.1%
6	Fedex Corporate Services, Inc.	Transportation and Warehousing; Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	169	168	99.4%	0.6%
7	HCA Management Services LP	Finance and Insurance; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Health Care and Social Assistance	125	122	97.6%	2.4%
8	Federal Express Corporation	Transportation and Warehousing	105	104	99%	1%
9	Asurion, LLC	Finance and Insurance	91	91	100%	0%
10	Vanderbilt University	Educational Services	81	80	98.8%	1.2%
11	Fedex Dataworks, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	70	68	97.1%	2.9%
12	Harvey Nash	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	69	67	97.1%	2.9%
13	Autozone, Inc.	Retail Trade	61	61	100%	0%
14	Alliancebernstein L P	Finance and Insurance	59	59	100%	0%
15	Vanderbilt University Medical Center	Health Care and Social Assistance	58	58	100%	0%
15	Guardian Healthcare Providers, Inc.	Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services	62	58	93.5%	6.5%
17	Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of CA, Inc.	Health Care and Social Assistance	52	49	94.2%	5.8%
18	Tractor Supply Company	Retail Trade	45	45	100%	0%
19	Cummins Emission Solutions, Inc.	Manufacturing	41	39	95.1%	4.9%
19	UBS Securities, LLC	Finance and Insurance	39	39	100%	0%
21	Pilot Travel Centers, LLC	Retail Trade; Other Services (except Public Administration)	38	38	100%	0%
22	Bluecross Blueshield of Tennessee, Inc.	Finance and Insurance	36	36	100%	0%
23	Sai Technologies, LLC	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	35	34	97.1%	2.9%
24	Smith and Nephew, Inc.	Manufacturing	30	30	100%	0%
25	Jeevan Technologies, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	30	29	96.7%	3.3%
25	Davita, Inc.	Health Care and Social Assistance	29	29	100%	0%
25	Evicore Healthcare MSI, LLC	Finance and Insurance; Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	30	29	96.7%	3.3%
28	Hospital Physician Services Southeast, PC	Health Care and Social Assistance	28	28	100%	0%
28	Geodis Logistics, LLC	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	28	28	100%	0%
30	The University of Memphis	Educational Services	27	27	100%	0%
31	MI Softech, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	27	26	96.3%	3.7%
32	Cummins Filtration, Inc.	Manufacturing	26	25	96.2%	3.8%
33	Dollar General Corporation	Retail Trade	24	24	100%	0%
33	Moore Infotech, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	24	24	100%	0%
35	Specialist Resources Global, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	23	23	100%	0%
35	Fedex Freight, Inc.	Transportation and Warehousing	23	23	100%	0%
35	Healthstream, Inc.	Information	23	23	100%	0%
38	Unum Group	Finance and Insurance	22	22	100%	0%
39	Southeastern Physician Services, PC	Health Care and Social Assistance	19	19	100%	0%
39	Shelby County Schools	Educational Services	19	19	100%	0%
41	South Sound Inpatient Physicians, PLLC	Health Care and Social Assistance	18	18	100%	0%
42	Nissan North America, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	17	17	100%	0%
42	West Tennessee Healthcare	Health Care and Social Assistance	18	17	94.4%	5.6%
44	VBJ Technician, LLC	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	16	16	100%	0%
45	Alsac St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital	Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services	15	15	100%	0%
45	Sound Physicians of Illinois D, LLC	Health Care and Social Assistance	15	15	100%	0%
47	International Paper	Manufacturing	14	14	100%	0%
47	Eastman Chemical Company	Manufacturing	14	14	100%	0%
47	Southeastern Intensivist Services, PC	Health Care and Social Assistance	14	14	100%	0%
50	UBS Financial Services, Inc.	Finance and Insurance	13	13	100%	0%
50	Conch Technologies, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	17	13	76.5%	23.5%
50	UT Le Bonheur Pediatric Specialists, Inc.	Health Care and Social Assistance	13	13	100%	0%
50	Spartan Solutions	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	13	13	100%	0%
50	Bricks It Solutions, LLC	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	14	13	92.9%	7.1%
55	Quanta Manufacturing Nashville, LLC	Manufacturing	12	12	100%	0%
55	Kenco Management Services, LLC	Transportation and Warehousing	12	12	100%	0%
55	Hospital Medicine Services of TN L	Health Care and Social Assistance	12	12	100%	0%
58	Meritor Heavy Vehicle Systems, LLC	Manufacturing; Wholesale Trade	11	11	100%	0%
58	Cogent Med Care, P C	Health Care and Social Assistance	11	11	100%	0%
58	The Heil Company	Manufacturing	11	11	100%	0%
58	Hospital Medicine Associates, LLC	Health Care and Social Assistance	11	11	100%	0%
58	Verana Health, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	11	11	100%	0%
58	Revance Therapeutics, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	11	11	100%	0%
58	Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc.	Finance and Insurance	11	11	100%	0%
65	Meritor Electric Vehicles, LLC	Manufacturing	10	10	100%	0%
65	Marshall Technologies, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	12	10	83.3%	16.7%
65	Inpatient Specialists of California, P C	Educational Services; Health Care and Social Assistance	10	10	100%	0%
65	NY Systems, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	10	10	100%	0%
65	Hospital Medicine Services of NH L	Health Care and Social Assistance	10	10	100%	0%
65	Gia Technologies, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	10	10	100%	0%
65	Zreya Technician, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	10	10	100%	0%
65	American Home Shield Corporation	Finance and Insurance	10	10	100%	0%
65	August Bioservices, LLC	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	10	10	100%	0%
74	SVS Technologies Limited	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	9	9	100%	0%
74	Cogent Healthcare of Iowa, P C	Health Care and Social Assistance	10	9	90%	10%
74	UT Regional One Physicians, Inc.	Health Care and Social Assistance	9	9	100%	0%
74	Middle Tennessee State University	Educational Services	9	9	100%	0%
74	Hospital Medicine Services of FL L	Health Care and Social Assistance	10	9	90%	10%
74	3avenir, LLC	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	9	9	100%	0%
74	Fedex Trade Networks Transport and Brokerage, Inc.	Transportation and Warehousing	9	9	100%	0%
74	Ameya Infotech, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	9	9	100%	0%
74	Envision Physician Services, LLC	Health Care and Social Assistance	9	9	100%	0%
74	Simaxive Technologies, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	10	9	90%	10%
84	Specialitycare, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services; Health Care and Social Assistance	8	8	100%	0%
84	SVS Technologies Limited Duns 079287817	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	8	8	100%	0%
84	Cogent Healthcare of Georgia D, P C	Health Care and Social Assistance	8	8	100%	0%
84	Syntage Technician, LLC	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	8	8	100%	0%
88	Memphis Light Gas and Water MLGW	Public Administration	7	7	100%	0%
88	Tror, LLC	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	7	7	100%	0%
88	East Tennessee State University	Educational Services	7	7	100%	0%
88	Vaco, LLC	Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services	7	7	100%	0%
88	Huf North America Automotive Parts Manufacturing, Corp.	Manufacturing	7	7	100%	0%
88	Akzo Nobel Coatings, Inc.	Manufacturing	7	7	100%	0%
88	Unique Key Resources, Inc.	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	7	7	100%	0%
88	Neotek Solutions, LLC	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	7	7	100%	0%
88	ABB Installation Products, Inc.	Wholesale Trade	7	7	100%	0%
97	Tennessee State University	Educational Services	6	6	100%	0%
97	Delek US Energy, Inc.	Manufacturing	6	6	100%	0%
97	UBS Bank USA	Finance and Insurance	6	6	100%	0%
97	Terminix International Company LP	Management of Companies and Enterprises; Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services	6	6	100%	0%