Cap exempt

H-1B Cap-Exempt Employers

Under INA 214(g)(5), universities, government research organizations, and affiliated nonprofits can file H-1B petitions outside the annual lottery — year-round, no cap. For applicants who lost the lottery, these employers are a path to status.

There is no official cap-exempt list — exemption is decided per petition and never published. Employers marked attested declared ACWIA coverage on their own Department of Labor wage determinations, which is the employer's own statement rather than a USCIS determination. The rest are identified from a .edu domain or institution name.

535 cap-exempt employers · Methodology

AllUniversitiesFederal researchNonprofit research

Rows marked “attested” come from the employer's own ACWIA declaration on a DOL wage determination; the remainder are classified from employer name, domain, and industry. Always confirm with the employer before relying on it for a petition.