H1B sponsorship lists – not what you think…

International students get very excited about H1B sponsorship lists – or lists of companies who have sponsored H1B visas in the past.  These lists are available on the Internet (usually for a fee), and are compiled from public information gathered by the US Department of Labor.  H1B sponsorship lists usually show the title of the position sponsored, the salary paid, and the name of the company sponsoring the visa.  It’s useful for international students to review these lists  to remember that there are, in fact, many companies who sponsor H1B’s each year.  However, these lists are far less valuable than you may think.  Here’s why:

Why H1b sponsorship lists may be misleading

Although the lists show companies who have sponsored visas in the past, they do not necessarily show what companies will be sponsoring in the future.  Just because a company is on an H1b sponsorship list doesn’t mean that they welcome all applicants needing visa sponsorship, or even that they don’t have a policy against sponsoring visas.  Although it’s possible that some of these companies readily accept all applicants who might need visa sponsorship, it’s far more likely that they’re on the list because they needed to sponsor a visa in order to get the candidate they wanted.   International students make the mistake of assuming that the companies on these ‘sponsorship’ lists are more likely to accept H1B visa candidates than other companies.  Not really true!

Generally, companies sponsor visas for three reasons:

1. They’re having trouble finding the talent they need
2. They’re under time pressure to fill a job
3. A hiring manager really likes a candidate

Instead of reviewing H1b sponsorship lists of other people who have been successful in getting visa sponsorship, international students need to concentrate on motivating an employer to sponsor their visa.  How to do this is the subject of my book, and will be touched on in later blog entries; but it can be summarized as follows: Present your potential value to decision makers at companies that interest you – always.