H-1B vs. Green Card (PERM): What's the Difference?
A company sponsoring your H-1B is not the same as a company sponsoring your green card. The difference decides whether a job is a stepping stone or a dead end.
Two different things
The H-1B is a temporary work visa — typically three years, renewable to six, tied to a specific employer. The employment-based green card is permanent residence. Many people assume one leads automatically to the other. It doesn't: the green card is a separate process the employer chooses to start.
The green-card path in brief
- PERM labor certification — the employer tests the labor market and DOL certifies it.
- I-140 immigrant petition — filed with USCIS on your behalf.
- Adjustment of status (I-485) — the final step to permanent residence, subject to visa availability.
PERM is the first and most telling step, because it's where an employer commits real time and cost. That's why a company's PERM history is the best public signal of whether it actually sponsors green cards.
- Staffing / IT-services models often rotate workers and file few PERM cases.
- A high H-1B count next to a tiny green-card count is a real pattern, not noise.
- The reverse — strong green-card volume — signals an employer that invests in keeping people.
How to read a company's green-card history
SponsorScan joins USCIS H-1B data with DOL PERM disclosure data, so you can see both at once. Our green-card sponsors list ranks employers by certified PERM cases, and shows green cards per 1,000 H-1B approvals — a quick read on commitment. The top-sponsors list shows the same green-card column next to raw volume, so a big H-1B number with few green cards stands out immediately.
When you're weighing an offer, ask directly: does the company sponsor green cards, and on what timeline? The data tells you whether that's a routine thing there or a rare exception.
Green-card data is DOL PERM disclosure data — historical filings, possibly incomplete. Not legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
Is an H-1B the same as a green card?
No. H-1B is a temporary, employer-tied work visa. A green card is permanent residence, obtained through a separate process (PERM, then I-140, then adjustment of status).
Does every H-1B sponsor also sponsor green cards?
No. Some large H-1B sponsors file very few PERM (green-card) cases. Check a company's PERM history before assuming it sponsors permanent residence.
What is PERM?
PERM is the labor-certification step of the employment green card, where DOL certifies that hiring a foreign worker won't harm U.S. workers. It's the clearest public signal a company sponsors green cards.