Minnesota H-1B workers nearly double in decade as businesses rely on visas more than ever

The number of foreign workers newly employed in Minnesota under the H-1B program has nearly doubled in the past decade, with some of the state’s largest businesses relying on the skilled worker visas more than ever.

They are working as software developers and engineers, experts say, at such organizations as U.S. Bank, UnitedHealth Group’s Optum unit, Mayo Clinic, the University of Minnesota and Medtronic.

As those around President-elect Donald Trump debate the merits of letting more foreign-born workers into the country, Minnesota companies are using the program more than any time in the past decade. For the year ending Sept. 30, the H-1B visa program for skilled employees approved 1,491 initial applications for individuals to move to Minnesota for a three-year period.

While the number is growing, H-1B visa holders make up a small fraction of Minnesota’s workforce. But it is an important piece of companies’ strategies for dealing with the state’s population growth and, thus, labor force, said Sean O’Neil, director of economic development and research at the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

The visas comprise “one part of a larger puzzle for how Minnesota companies can get the talent that they need to continue operating and to thrive,” O’Neil said.

During his first term in the White House, Trump called H-1B visas “very bad” and “unfair” for U.S. workers and took steps to change the program. H-1B visas have since become hotly debated among his supporters.

Critics such as Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., say the program is being abused by companies and may undermine American wages. Supporters, including Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy — Trump allies named to lead a task force on government efficiency, highlight its importance to U.S. innovation.

In remarks at Mar-a-Lago last week, Trump said he supports the program because “we need competent people” and insisted he had not changed his mind about it. Trump has acknowledged hiring H-1B workers at his businesses.

Minnesota immigration attorneys say they are monitoring the political fight and that changes to the program could batter the state’s economy.

“Of course, we’re hoping that the Musk and Ramaswamy proposals carry the day,” Minneapolis attorney Michael Davis said, “because we think these workers are vital to both the local and national economy.”

The program, Davis said, has long been a magnet for criticism from people in both political parties who “don’t support having lots of foreign workers in the states.”

To receive an H-1B visa in most cases, an employer registers an individual in an immigration lottery, Davis said.

If the employee is chosen, the employer must submit a document that verifies the employee’s wage is on par with one in a union contract or the weighed average of wages paid to similar employees. They then submit the H-1B petition to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Workers not already in the country then must apply for an H-1B visa with a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad and to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for admission to the United States in the H-1B classification.

Individuals with certifications to practice a specialty occupation, or who have a U.S. bachelor’s or higher degree or an equivalent foreign degree, can receive the visa to work in the country in three-year increments.

There’s an annual national cap of 65,000 new visas per fiscal year and an additional 20,000 petitions filed on behalf of people with a master’s degree or higher. Individuals employed at higher education and nonprofit research organizations such as Mayo Clinic are not subject to the cap.

The visa costs between $2,000 per worker for small companies and $3,400 for large companies, Davis said.

Regulators initially approved 141,207 visas nationally in the federal fiscal year that started Oct. 1, 2023, according to U.S. customs data, compared with 122,894 in fiscal year 2020. During that time, the number of initially approved visas rose in Minnesota from 1,099 to 1,491.

The change in administrations may play a role in increased approvals, said Minnetonka immigration attorney Steven Thal.

During Trump’s first term, employers and attorneys told the Minnesota Star Tribune that the administration increased paperwork requests and unannounced site visits associated with the H-1B program. Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to ramp up efforts to prevent abuse of the program and to ensure visas go only to the highest-paid, most-skilled foreign workers.

The approval rate during Trump’s first term fell to below 80% before rebounding to the high 90s in 2019, according to data tracked by the website Visa Grader. The approval rate has hovered above 92% during President Joe Biden’s term.

Davis said Minnesota may have a statistically higher filling and approval rate compared with other states because “we have a lot of medical institutions [and] other high-tech companies that are based here.”

Rochester-based Mayo Clinic received the most H-1B visas among employers in the state in fiscal 2024, followed by the University of Minnesota. Mayo’s approvals increased by 65% from 2020 through 2024.

Mayo Clinic, which is Minnesota’s largest employer, comprised roughly one-sixth of all of the state’s initial approvals during the Biden administration. Mayo declined to comment for this story.

Other large companies, such as Medtronic, UnitedHealth Group’s Optum and Target, also led the way in initial approvals.

“It’s a stepping stone for highly educated individuals — those holding bachelor’s degrees or higher — to be able to contribute to our economy by making use of the education that they’ve gained here,” Thal said of visa holders who were educated at U.S. colleges and universities.

Companies want predictability and continuity in their workforce, Thal said. But Minnesota’s worker population has shrunk in recent years.

Minnesota has nearly 30,000 fewer people in the workforce compared with the beginning of the decade, and the state has lost close to 50,000 people because of net domestic migration, O’Neil said.

“We see our economy really struggling with this issue of low labor force growth, low population growth over time,” O’Neil said. “And so all of these different programs that can help bring people to Minnesota and fill these important job vacancies that we have in our economy [are] really critical, and it becomes even more so when those jobs that are open are highly specialized.”

Companies in the state increasingly rely on the visa to draw specialized workers in technology, health care, medicine and research fields.

“When we think about Minnesota being an innovation economy and having these leadership positions in a variety of high-tech industries,” O’Neil said, “this is one way, one mechanism that Minnesota can continue to compete in these industries where we traditionally had real advantages.”

Trump ran for president promising large immigration reforms and mass deportations of unauthorized immigrants. But he backed the program after such right-wing activists as Laura Loomer criticized Musk and Ramaswamy for supporting it.

In a post on X, Loomer said people working in tech “donated to Trump so they could try to influence immigration policy for their tech projects.”

Critics say the H-1B program hurts U.S. citizens vying for the same jobs.

But without the visas, Davis, the immigration attorney, said the country risks having students and current visa holders return to their home countries and become competitors to U.S. companies.

And the nation’s slowing population growth means smaller pools of qualified American-born workers.

H-1B holders make up a small part of Minnesota’s foreign-born workforce, which O’Neil said has a higher workforce participation rate than the state’s U.S.-born workforce.

“I think the H-1B visa program punches above its weight,” said O’Neil of the state Chamber of Commerce. “Though the total number of visa allotments is fairly modest relative to overall workforce numbers ... these are going to highly skilled and specialized positions they can really have a significant economic impact.”