Sponsorship Score
H1BVisaTracker's proprietary A-F grade for H-1B employers, based on approval rate (40%), wage vs. prevailing wage (30%), volume consistency (20%), and denial rate (10%).
Sponsorship Score is a term from U.S. employment-based immigration — typically a step, document, or filing in the H-1B (or related visa) process. The definition here is the practical worker-facing meaning, anchored in the DOL and USCIS processes that produce the underlying data this site uses. Understanding Sponsorship Score is part of reading H-1B sponsorship offers and the publicly-disclosed filing data defensibly. Each technical term in the H-1B process carries specific implications for workers — eligibility, timing, employer obligations, portability — and the worker-relevant interpretation often differs from the technical legal definition.
Each employer page on H1BTracker surfaces the specific Sponsorship Score-relevant data for that company, so the general definition here translates into the concrete numbers on the per-company pages.
How It Works
The Sponsorship Score helps H-1B workers evaluate potential employers. A company with an "A" grade consistently gets petitions approved, pays well above prevailing wages, sponsors regularly, and has a low denial rate. A company with a "D" or "F" may have high denial rates (suggesting weak petitions or marginal specialty occupation arguments), pay at or near the minimum prevailing wage, or sponsor inconsistently. The score uses four weighted factors: approval rate (40% weight), wage ratio compared to prevailing wage (30%), sponsorship volume consistency over multiple years (20%), and inverse denial rate (10%). Scores are recalculated quarterly as new DOL data is released.
Related Terms
- Prevailing Wage, The average wage paid to workers in a similar occupation in the same geographic area, employers must pay H-1B workers at least this amount to prevent undercutting U.S. wages.
- H-1B Visa, A nonimmigrant work visa allowing U.S. employers to hire foreign workers in "specialty occupations" that require at least a bachelor's degree, the primary visa for skilled tech, engineering, and professional workers.
- Labor Condition Application (LCA), A DOL-certified form that employers must file before hiring an H-1B worker, attesting they will pay at least the prevailing wage and not adversely affect working conditions for U.S. workers.
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About This Definition
This definition is part of the H1BVisaTracker H-1B Visa Glossary, 26 terms explaining H-1B sponsorship, work visas, and employment-based immigration in the United States. Written for international workers, employers, and immigration professionals.