H‑1B visa renewals are on pace to reach a record high in fiscal year 2026, according to new analysis of U.S. government data—an increase that comes even as the Trump administration pushes to tighten aspects of the high‑skilled worker program.

LayoffHedge, a workforce analytics firm, reviewed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data and found that 273,026 H-1B petitions for continuing employment had been approved through the first nine months of fiscal year 2026, which runs from October 2025 through September 2026. That total is already nearing the record 291,542 renewal approvals recorded during fiscal year 2025, with three months still remaining.

The growth in renewals comes as the Trump administration pursues restrictions on parts of the program. President Donald Trump's government has tried to impose a $100,000 fee on many new H-1B petitions filed for workers outside the United States, though a federal judge blocked the measure in June. The administration has also moved to replace the traditional random H-1B lottery with a wage-weighted selection system designed to prioritize higher-paid applicants.

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How To Interpret H-1B Figures

While some experts argue the figures highlight the growing scale of H-1B activity occurring outside the annual visa cap, others contend the numbers should be interpreted more cautiously because they reflect petition approvals rather than unique workers and may include extensions, transfers and amended filings.

The figures focus on what USCIS classifies as "continuing employment" petitions, extensions and renewals for workers already employed in the United States on H-1B visas, rather than new approvals issued through the annual visa lottery. USCIS separates H-1B approvals into "initial employment" petitions—which are generally subject to the annual cap of 85,000 visas—and "continuing employment" petitions, which are not capped.

LayoffHedge said it compiled the data using USCIS's H-1B Employer Data Hub and historical approval figures published by the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan think tank. Pew said its historical series covering fiscal years 2000 through 2023 was based on information obtained from USCIS through a Freedom of Information Act request. The fiscal year 2025 renewal figure was also cited in a November 2025 report published by the National Foundation for American Policy.

According to Pew Research Center, almost 400,000 H-1B petitions were approved in fiscal year 2024. Of those, 258,196, about 65 percent, were renewals or extensions for existing H-1B workers.

Sahana Mukherjee, the associate director of race and ethnicity research at Pew, told Newsweek the figures referenced in the analysis were based on USCIS petition approvals rather than unique workers, and that "renewals refer to 'continuing employment' approvals."

Mukherjee said the category includes workers who are renewing an existing H-1B approval, workers changing employers and workers making other changes to their applications. "The data focuses on petitions only, and not on individual workers," she said.

The methodology has become a point of debate among immigration policy experts.

Experts Weigh In on H-1B Analysis

Jiaxin He, a research assistant with the Economic Innovation Group, told Newsweek that continuing-employment figures cited by Pew and LayoffHedge combine several different categories of petitions.

"Only 118,194 of those are actual renewals," He said, referring to approvals in fiscal year 2025. "The remaining 173,000 petitions represent workers who changed jobs, received promotions, transferred employers, or otherwise amended their status."

He argued that continuing-employment approvals should not be interpreted as a count of unique workers and said the figures are better understood as petition events involving workers already in the H-1B system.

"Treating each petition as a distinct worker produces overcounting," He said.

Others say the data remain important because it shows the scale of H-1B activity occurring outside the annual visa cap.

Kevin Lynn, the founder of the advocacy group U.S. Tech Workers, told Newsweek approval statistics should not be equated with unique workers because one H-1B holder can be associated with multiple approved petitions over time.

"The public hears '85,000,' but the active stock of H-1B workers is several times that number," he said.

Lynn added that continuing-employment approvals include extensions, amendments and employer-transfer petitions and should therefore be viewed as "continuing-employment petition events" rather than additions to the labor market.

At the same time, he said the figures highlight that much of the H-1B system operates outside the annual cap because renewals, extensions, transfers and many cap-exempt petitions are not subject to the 85,000 limit.

"These exemptions allow a significant number of H-1B workers to enter the labor market outside the annual cap, undermining the purpose of the cap and creating an uneven regulatory environment across employers," Lynn said.

What the H-1B Visa Program Allows

The H-1B visa allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations requiring specialized knowledge and at least a bachelor's degree or equivalent experience. The program is widely used in the technology sector but also supports hiring in fields such as engineering, health care, finance and research.

With fewer than 19,000 renewal approvals, fiscal year 2026 would surpass the record set last year and become the highest year on record for H-1B renewals, despite ongoing legal and political battles over the future of the visa program.

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: John Fitzpatrick and Shakeema Edwards.