H-1B Cap-Exempt Employers: The 2026 List and the Rules Behind It

By Sumit Patel · Last updated October 15, 2026

H-1B cap-exempt employers can sponsor H-1B workers at any time of year without the lottery. Four kinds qualify: colleges and universities, nonprofits affiliated with them, nonprofit research organizations and government research organizations. Hospitals, K-12 schools and for-profit labs are not exempt on their own.

Below are the exact tests from the regulation, the universities and hospitals that file the most H-1B LCAs, and how to check a specific employer. In FY2025, colleges and universities filed 27,384 certified H-1B LCAs, 5.3% of all certified H-1B LCAs.

Which employers are H-1B cap-exempt?

Employers that fit one of four definitions in the regulation (8 CFR 214.2(h)(8)(iii)(F)). The exemption is decided for each petition, so the employer must show it meets the test when it files.

Which employers are not cap-exempt?

Several common guesses are wrong. These employers go through the lottery unless they fit a category above:

• K-12 schools: Primary and secondary schools are exempt from the ACWIA training fee, not from the cap.
• Hospitals on their own: A hospital qualifies only if it is affiliated with a university as defined above, or is itself a nonprofit research organization.
• For-profit research companies: The research categories require a nonprofit or a government body.
• Government agencies without a research mission: Only governmental bodies whose fundamental activity includes research qualify.
• Staffing and consulting firms: Not exempt themselves. A worker they place can be exempt only under the half-time rule below.

Which universities file the most H-1B LCAs?

Mayo Clinic, University of Michigan and The Leland Stanford, Jr University lead the list, each with 461 or more certified H-1B LCAs in FY2025. The table ranks employers whose LCAs carry the colleges and universities industry code (NAICS 6113). Click a name for its full sponsor profile.

Source: DOL OFLC LCA disclosure data, analysed by H1BVisaJobs.com (2026-10-15). Grouped by the industry code on the LCA, which is how Mayo Clinic appears here. Universities are cap-exempt as a category, but this table does not confirm any single employer's exemption.

For a longer list, see the top 200 cap-exempt institutions of higher education.

How much H-1B hiring do universities do?

More each year. University LCAs rose from 20,757 in FY2022 to 27,384 in FY2025, filed by about 1,267 distinct employers.

Are hospitals H-1B cap-exempt?

Only some. A hospital is exempt if it is related to or affiliated with a university under one of the four tests (for example, a written affiliation agreement for research or education), or if it is a nonprofit research organization itself. Many teaching hospitals meet one of these. A community hospital usually does not.

Source: DOL OFLC LCA disclosure data, analysed by H1BVisaJobs.com (2026-10-15). Hospitals are listed because many qualify through a university affiliation; this table does not show which ones file as cap-exempt.

More detail: cap-exempt H-1B at hospitals.

Which research organizations qualify?

Nonprofits and government bodies for which basic or applied research is a fundamental activity. Basic research seeks knowledge without a specific application in mind. Applied research seeks a way to meet a specific, recognized need, and can have commercial aims. Both can be in the sciences, social sciences or humanities.

Research does not have to be the only activity, and the rule no longer requires it to be the primary one: it is enough that it is a fundamental activity. For profiles of large research nonprofits, see the top 25 cap-exempt nonprofit research organizations.

Can I be cap-exempt without working for the institution?

Yes. A worker employed by a company, such as a contractor, qualifies if they spend at least half their work time doing duties at a qualifying institution, and those duties directly further its higher education, nonprofit research or government research mission. Remote work for the institution counts: the regulation says USCIS "will focus on the job duties to be performed, rather than where the duties are physically performed" (8 CFR 214.2(h)(8)(iii)(F)(4)).

What happens when cap-exempt employment ends?

You become subject to the cap unless you were already counted in your current six-year period. So a move to another cap-exempt employer keeps you exempt, but a move to a company that was never counted against the cap means the new employer must enter you in the lottery.

A second, cap-subject job held alongside the exempt one does not count you against the cap. But it cannot outlast the cap-exempt petition, and if the exempt job ends early, USCIS may revoke the cap-subject petition unless you were counted before. See cap-exempt vs cap-subject H-1B.

How do I check whether an employer is cap-exempt?

1. Ask HR or the employer's immigration counsel which category it files under: higher education, an affiliated nonprofit, a nonprofit research organization or a government research organization.
2. For an affiliated nonprofit or hospital, ask which affiliation test it relies on, such as a written affiliation agreement.
3. Look at its filing history: a sponsor profile shows how many H-1B LCAs it files and for which jobs. A college or research institute with steady filings is a good sign but not proof.
4. If you would be placed by a contractor, confirm you will spend at least half your time on the institution's mission.
5. Use the H-1B cap-exempt checker to work through the tests.

Where can I find H-1B cap-exempt jobs?

Mostly on the employers' own career sites. Our job feed has no current listings from universities or hospitals, because they rarely post through the job platforms we collect from. Good places to search:

• University HR job sites, starting with the filers in the table above.
• Academic job boards such as HigherEdJobs, the Chronicle of Higher Education, Nature Careers and Science Careers.
• Hospital and medical school career pages, for research and clinical roles at academic medical centers.
• Career pages of research nonprofits and national laboratories. Many federal civil service jobs require U.S. citizenship, so check each posting.

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