If you're an F-1 student on OPT, or about to be, the employer you join decides whether a green card case is ever filed for you. Two government records answer different halves of that: ICE lists the employers with the largest counts of students on practical training, and DOL's record shows which employers file PERM labor certifications, the first step of most employment-based green cards. This guide puts them side by side.
Two sources, two kinds of count
ICE's list counts students on OPT or STEM OPT at each employer in 2024, under the brand name ICE prints. DOL's record counts PERM cases under the legal name on the form, so one ICE name can match several DOL employers. Both read on October 16, 2026, from OPT and CPT employers and each employer's page.
The busiest OPT employers, and their PERM record
| ICE's name (students on OPT or STEM OPT, 2024) | PERM employer in DOL's record | PERM filed in the last 12 months | PERM pending now | Wage requests pending now |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon (10,167) | Amazon.com Services LLC | 1,273 | 677 | 1,033 |
| Google (2,454) | Google LLC | 15 | 15 | 1,025 |
| Microsoft (2,143) | Microsoft Corporation | 617 | 598, all on hold since October 8 | 315 |
| Meta (2,032) | Meta Platforms, Inc. | 26 | 19 | 973 |
| Goldman Sachs (1,695) | Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC | 396 | 344 | 84 |
| Intel (1,641) | Intel Corporation | none shown | 0 | 619 |
| Walmart (1,623) | Wal-Mart Associates, Inc. | 349 | 317 | 395 |
| Apple (1,621) | Apple Inc. | 430 | 259 | 608 |
| Tesla (1,548) | Tesla, Inc. | 512 | 368 | 259 |
Each employer's own page: Amazon.com Services, Google, Microsoft, Meta, Goldman Sachs, Intel, Walmart, Apple and Tesla.
Amazon files under more than one name. Besides Amazon.com Services LLC, Find a sponsor showed Amazon Dev Center U.S. with 939 PERM filings in the last 12 months, Amazon Web Services with 467 and Amazon Data Services with 282.
Universities are high on ICE's list too: the University of California, Arizona State and the University of Texas among them. ICE's names and DOL's often differ, so search each one's legal name on the employer list before reading anything into a missing match.
What the columns tell you
- PERM filed in the last 12 months is the clearest sign an employer is sponsoring green cards now.
- PERM pending now is DOL's live count. Microsoft's 598 are all on hold since October 8, 2026, which employers under review tracks day by day.
- Wage requests pending now shows the step before a PERM. An employer has to get a prevailing wage determination before it files, so a high count with few recent PERMs, as at Google LLC, Meta and Intel, means that earlier step is busy. It can't say how many will become PERM filings.
Can a PERM be filed while you're on OPT?
Yes. A PERM is the employer's application, and DOL's older PERM form recorded the visa the worker held when it was filed. In the published cases filed on that form, decided from fiscal year 2016 through 2024, F-1 was the second most common visa at filing: 66,008 cases, after H-1B's 627,380.
What a PERM doesn't do is give you status. It takes DOL months to decide, and OPT ends on its own date. How a student stays in status while a green card case runs, through STEM OPT, an H-1B or another route, is a question for the employer's attorney, and nothing here is legal advice.
Check an employer before you accept
Find the legal name
Search the employer on PERM employers or Find a sponsor. If the brand has several entities, check each.
Read the live half first
On the employer's page, "Right now" shows pending PERM cases, the newest filings and wage requests still waiting. That's this year's activity.
Then read the history
The decided record shows how many cases the employer filed, how many were certified, and for which jobs. Green card sponsors for your job shows how to read it by occupation.
Ask the employer directly
Whether a role comes with green card sponsorship, and when, is the employer's policy. The record can tell you whether it files; it can't tell you whether it'll file for you.
A proposal to watch
DHS has proposed fees of $70,000 for a student's first OPT and $30,000 for any later OPT, paid by the school before it recommends the student (FR doc 2026-20660). It's a proposal only: comments close November 9, 2026, and nothing is in force. The OPT fee proposal explained walks through it.
What this can't tell you
- Whether an employer sponsors new graduates in your role. ICE's list counts students, and DOL's record counts filings, and neither says who they were.
- Why a count is high or low. A brand's filings may sit under a name you haven't searched.
- Which employers led the count in 2025. ICE's newest list, linked from its SEVIS what's new page, covers 2024.
