Summary:
- Elon Musk said ending the H-1B visa program would harm the U.S.
- Top seven Indian IT firms received 4,573 H-1B petitions in 2025, down from 2024.
- TCS is the only Indian IT company among the top five for continuing-employment approvals.
THE U.S. GAINED from the H-1B visa program and ending it would harm the country, tech billionaire Elon Musk said. He noted that American companies profited from talent from India.
Musk made the remarks in an interview with Nikhil Kamath on his podcast People by WTF, released Sunday, according to PTI.
"Yes, I think America has benefited immensely from talented Indians who have come to America … America has been an immense beneficiary of talent from India," Musk said.
While there has been some misuse of the H-1B visa program, he said it should not be shut down.
“Some outsourcing companies have gamed the system on the H-1B front and we need to stop that,” Musk said. “But I'm not in the school of thought that we should shut down the H-1B program. That's where some on the right are. I think they don't realise that would be very bad.”
Meanwhile, economist and former U.S. Rep. Dave Brat alleged fraud in India’s H-1B system, claiming the Chennai consulate issued more than twice the national limit. On Steve Bannon's War Room podcast, he said the national H-1B cap is 85,000, but Chennai processed about 220,000 visas.
Musk’s comments come as the U.S. steps up efforts to curb abuse of the H-1B program, widely used by technology companies to hire foreign workers. Indian professionals, including technology workers and physicians, make up one of the largest groups of H-1B holders.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia recently said she plans to introduce a bill ending the H-1B visa program and its pathway to citizenship, requiring workers to leave when their visas expire. The Trump administration reportedly directed U.S. visa officers to consider obesity and certain long-term health conditions in reviews that can lead to visa denials.
H1B approval, denial rates
The top seven Indian IT firms received 4,573 H-1B petitions for initial employment in 2025 fiscal year, a 70 percent drop from 2015 and 37 percent fewer than in 2024, the Times of India reported, citing National Foundation for American Policy data. USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub records show TCS is the only Indian IT company among the top five U.S. employers securing approvals for new H-1B workers.
TCS is also the only Indian IT company in the top five for continuing-employment approvals, though its extension rejection rate rose to 7 percent from 4 percent in 2024, above the overall 1.9 percent rate. This year, TCS received 5,293 approvals for continuing employment and 846 for initial employment, down from 1,452 in 2024 and 1,174 in 2023, with a 2 percent rejection rate for new petitions.
The latest NFAP policy brief shows Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Google now occupy the top four spots for new H-1B approvals for the first time, the Times reported.
The Trump administration is halting all asylum decisions following the shooting of two National Guardsmen in Washington, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said. Industry groups have urged legislation like the Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act to address the labor shortage.
