Top Consulting Firms That Sponsor H-1B (And How to Land an Offer)

Consulting is the second-largest H-1B-sponsoring industry after big tech. Here is who actually sponsors in 2026 — Deloitte, McKinsey, the Indian IT services giants — with FY2025 numbers and what sets each tier apart.

If you're an international student considering consulting, you have more options than the FAANG-or-bust narrative suggests. Consulting is consistently the second-largest H-1B-sponsoring industry after big tech, and within consulting, three quite different segments compete for international talent: Big 4 management consulting, MBB strategy consulting, and Indian IT services consulting. Each has different sponsorship volumes, different role types, different wage levels, and different odds for international new grads.

This guide walks through the actual FY2025 H-1B numbers for each segment, the structural differences in how each operates, the impact of the September 2025 $100K H-1B fee on consulting hiring, and the strategy that makes sense for international students applying to consulting roles in 2026.

The three consulting segments at a glance

The word "consulting" hides three very different businesses:

The three segments have almost nothing in common operationally. A "consulting H-1B job" at TCS and a "consulting H-1B job" at McKinsey are entirely different careers.

Big 4 + Accenture — the volume sponsors

The Big 4 (Deloitte, EY, PwC, KPMG) plus Accenture are the largest H-1B sponsors in the consulting industry. They have established immigration programs, dedicated H-1B legal teams, and consistent year-over-year sponsorship volumes.

Deloitte Consulting

The largest consulting H-1B sponsor in 2025. 3,005 H-1B petitions approved out of 3,040 filed in FY2025, plus 4,286 LCAs filed at the Department of Labor (LCAs are roughly 1.4x the number of approved petitions because each LCA covers up to 7 worksites). Deloitte ranks #10 nationally among all H-1B sponsors across industries.

What roles get sponsored: Strategy & Analytics consultants, Technology consultants (digital transformation, cloud, AI/ML implementations), Risk & Financial Advisory analysts, and audit-track CPAs.

EY, PwC, KPMG

Each among the top 25 H-1B sponsors historically. Specific FY2025 approval counts vary; expect each to file 1,500-3,000 LCAs annually. Verify on MyVisaJobs for current numbers.

What roles get sponsored: Same broad categories as Deloitte (advisory, technology, audit, risk).

Accenture

Historically a top-5 H-1B sponsor with consistently 2,000+ approvals per year pre-2025. Accenture also files large LCA volumes for L-1 transferees from India to the US.

The post-September-2025 environment has changed Accenture's playbook somewhat. The $100K fee on new petitions for workers being brought from abroad applies disproportionately to Accenture's bench-and-deploy India-to-US model.

MBB — McKinsey, Bain, BCG

McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, and Bain & Company are the elite tier of strategy consulting. Total H-1B volume is much smaller than Big 4 (typically <1,000 petitions per firm annually), but the wages are dramatically higher and the candidates are a different population — almost entirely MBA hires from M7 schools (Harvard, Wharton, Stanford GSB, Booth, Kellogg, Sloan, Columbia) plus elite undergrads.

McKinsey

McKinsey sponsors international MBA hires through the H-1B lottery system. They re-attempt across multiple lottery cycles if a candidate is not selected — meaning a McKinsey offer with H-1B sponsorship gives you 2-3 lottery shots before the firm reconsiders.

Recent data point: roughly 33% of McKinsey's MBB hires at the US offices obtained their undergraduate degrees from international universities. McKinsey's international hiring is structurally significant.

McKinsey associates often pursue firm-sponsored MBAs at top-10 schools with a 2-year return commitment.

Bain

Bain has a more conservative H-1B sponsorship policy: only one lottery attempt. If you're not selected in that lottery, the offer doesn't typically convert to a re-application. This is a major difference vs McKinsey/BCG.

Roughly 11% of Bain's US MBB hires obtained undergrads from international universities — lower than McKinsey or BCG.

BCG

BCG re-attempts across multiple lottery cycles, similar to McKinsey. ~20% of BCG US MBB hires from international universities.

MBB summary for international candidates

If you're choosing among MBB offers as an international candidate:

• McKinsey or BCG offer better lottery odds (multi-year)
• Bain has the strongest culture in many candidates' opinions but the lottery risk is higher
• All three pay roughly equivalently: ~$200K-$280K MBA new hire + signing bonus + benefits

Indian IT services — TCS, Cognizant, Infosys, Wipro, HCL

This is the highest-volume H-1B sponsorship segment in consulting, with very different economics from the segments above.

FY2025 H-1B approvals:

• TCS: 5,505 approvals (largest single H-1B beneficiary nationally in FY2025)
• Cognizant: 2,493 (US-headquartered but India-heavy workforce)
• Infosys: 2,004 approvals on 5,788 LCAs filed (DOL certifies roughly 3x the number of USCIS approvals — most LCAs don't convert to actual visas)
• Wipro: 1,523
• HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra: smaller volumes, declining year-over-year

The Indian IT services model

Structural differences from Big 4 / MBB:

1. Bench-and-deploy staffing — workers are placed at client projects, not at firm offices long-term
2. Lower wage levels — typically LCA Level 1-2 ($65K-$95K) vs Levels 3-4 at Big 4
3. High turnover — typical assignments are 1-3 years before rotation back to India
4. Higher 221(g) administrative-processing rates — end-client verification at consulates causes delays
5. Project-based work — you're often working at the client site, not the consulting firm office

For international students, Indian IT services H-1B sponsorships are realistic and accessible — the volume is enormous. The tradeoff is wages, work environment, and career trajectory. A TCS H-1B at $75K is a different career than a Deloitte H-1B at $150K.

The 2025-2026 disruption

The September 2025 $100K H-1B fee hit Indian IT services particularly hard because their model relies on bringing workers from India to US client sites. NPR and CDF Labor Law analyses estimated that a firm sponsoring 100 new workers per year now faces an additional $10M cost.

Industry response: Cognizant, TCS, and Infosys announced reduced US-onshore hiring and increased local-hire pivots in late 2025. This is reshaping the market — fewer India-to-US H-1Bs, more US-based hiring. For international students already in the US on F-1 OPT, this can be opportunity; for candidates expecting to be brought from India, the path is harder.

Mid-tier consulting — Accenture Strategy, ZS Associates, Oliver Wyman, Strategy&, L.E.K.

Below Big 4 and MBB sits a tier of strong specialty consulting firms that hire international candidates at LCA Level 3-4 wages:

• Accenture Strategy — strategy practice within Accenture; $150K-$200K new MBA
• Strategy& (PwC) — strategy practice within PwC; similar wage levels
• ZS Associates — life-sciences consulting specialty; sponsors heavily for analytics/data science roles
• Oliver Wyman — financial services consulting; $200K+ new MBA
• L.E.K. Consulting — boutique strategy; smaller volumes
• Booz Allen Hamilton — government consulting; mostly requires US citizenship for federal contracts; smaller commercial-side H-1B volume

These firms typically offer better hours than MBB and competitive wages relative to Big 4. Sponsorship volumes are smaller than Big 4 but more reliable than smaller boutiques.

How to actually land an offer

For international new grads targeting consulting, the playbook varies by segment:

Big 4

• Apply through campus recruiting — Big 4 firms have extensive university recruiting at top US schools
• Network through alumni — Big 4 alumni networks are large and accessible
• Target specific practice areas — Strategy & Analytics, Technology, and Cyber tend to be most international-friendly
• Application timeline: September-November of senior year (full-time recruiting), February-April (summer internship recruiting)

MBB

• MBA path is dominant — undergrad-to-MBB is rare and hyper-competitive
• For undergrads: target McKinsey BA / BCG Associate / Bain AC roles, primarily through campus recruiting at HYP / Stanford / MIT / top schools
• Networking is essential — coffee chats with current consultants are standard practice
• Case interview prep: budget 100-200 hours of structured prep using McKinsey 7-step framework, Victor Cheng materials, Case in Point

Indian IT services

• Apply directly through company websites or via your school's career portal
• Lower bar than Big 4 / MBB — undergraduate degrees in CS / engineering are sufficient
• Be aware of project-based deployment model — your work location can change frequently

Mid-tier

• Direct application through firm websites
• Networking through alumni or LinkedIn cold outreach to consultants in your target practice
• Application timing: follow Big 4 cycle (September-November)

What's negotiable in a consulting offer

Three areas where international candidates often have leverage:

• Sign-on bonus — usually $15K-$25K at MBB, $5K-$15K at Big 4
• Relocation package — bigger budget at MBB and senior Big 4 hires (see our relocation negotiation guide)
• Start-date flexibility — most consulting firms can shift start dates by 2-3 months to accommodate visa timing

Base salary is usually set by class year and rarely negotiable.

The 2026 outlook for international consulting candidates

Three trends to plan around:

1. The $100K fee chills new H-1B hiring at firms with thin margins. Big 4 and Indian IT services are both affected. MBB less so (their wage levels easily absorb the fee for the candidates they want).
2. Local-hire pivots favor F-1 students already in the US. If you're on OPT, you're a US-based hire from the firm's perspective — the $100K fee doesn't apply. Lean into this advantage.
3. Cap-exempt consulting is rare but exists — firms that primarily sponsor for cap-exempt employers (e.g., university medical centers' affiliated consulting) are an underexplored path.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Treating "consulting" as one career. TCS and McKinsey are not the same career. Be specific about which segment fits your goals.
• Underestimating the case interview prep for MBB. Most candidates fail on the case, not the fit interview.
• Targeting only US-headquartered firms. Many strong consulting firms have operations across geographies; flexibility matters.
• Assuming Indian IT services are "easier." The wage and career-trajectory tradeoffs are real.
• Not verifying sponsorship behavior post-2025. Sponsorship willingness has changed materially in late 2025 across the industry.

Consulting remains a significant H-1B career path for international students. The right segment depends on your background, your wage expectations, your appetite for travel, and your long-term career goals. The data is public — use it to target strategically rather than spreading applications across all three segments at once.

Want help thinking through which consulting segment fits you? F1Jobs — we work with international consulting candidates every cohort and can help you target.