Does Netflix Sponsor H-1B Visas? Senior-Heavy Hiring, the October Cuts and What New Grads Can Do

Netflix files H-1B petitions, but most are for people already on H-1B. Here is what that means for new grads, transfers and anyone caught in the October cut.

Part of our guide to companies that sponsor H-1B visas.

Yes, Netflix sponsors H-1B visas, but mostly for people who already hold H-1B status. In FY2024, USCIS recorded 250 first decisions on H-1B petitions for Netflix Inc: 45 initial approvals, 201 continuing approvals and 4 denials, a 98.4% approval rate. An experienced engineer already on H-1B fits the profile Netflix sponsors most. A new grad on OPT can be sponsored too, but competes for far fewer seats and first needs a lottery selection.

Status as of 2026-11-01. Announced 2026-10-14: Netflix is cutting about 1,000 roles (about 6% of staff); separation dates are not public. In effect: the discretionary 60-day grace period for H-1B workers; wage-weighted lottery selection (since 2026-02-27); EO 14431, which makes employer layoffs an H-1B factor but creates no automatic denial and has no DOL or USCIS implementing guidance. Proposed only: eliminating the worker grace period (RIN 1615-AD22; comments close 2026-11-10). Blocked: collection of the $100,000 H-1B fee (the proclamation stays in effect on paper to 2027-09-21). Not announced: FY2028 registration dates.

Does Netflix sponsor H-1B visas? The short answer

Netflix Inc is an active but selective H-1B sponsor. In its FY2024 Data Hub record, continuing approvals (extensions and transfers) outnumber initial approvals more than four to one, with no initial denials. That points to a workforce built mostly from experienced hires already on H-1B, with a smaller lane for first-time H-1B workers such as new grads.

Year-by-year figures are on our Netflix Inc company data page, built from the USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub. For one job family across streamers, see data engineer H-1B sponsorship at Netflix, Spotify and Disney+.

What Netflix's H-1B numbers show (FY2024)

The useful number is the split, not the total.

Source: USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub, FY2024, as of 2026-11. Shares are our arithmetic; the "continuing" petition types are our reading of the Hub's glossary. FY2024 is the latest full year we quote per employer.

USCIS's Data Hub explainer says the figures reflect "USCIS' first decision," exclude appeals and revocations, and count each petition in the fiscal year it was decided; initial approvals are petitions marked "New employment" on Form I-129. These are decisions, not open jobs. The listed city, Los Gatos, is a mailing address that "is not necessarily the beneficiary(ies) work location"; DOL's LCA files show worksites.

Why Netflix hiring is senior-heavy, and what it means for your visa

For an employer, a transfer is the simpler filing: the worker was already counted against the cap, so there is no lottery. A new grad's first H-1B needs a spring registration, a selection and then a full cap petition.

The market tilts the same way. Indeed Hiring Lab reported that entry-level postings fell 7.5% while senior postings rose 14.7% year over year (May 2026), and Lightcast counted roughly one junior role (0-2 years of experience) advertised for every four senior roles in October 2026, against one per 2.5 in 2022. Those are market-wide figures, not Netflix's, but they explain why a senior-weighted sponsor is harder to break into.

Does Netflix sponsor H-1B for new grads?

Yes, in small numbers, and only after a lottery selection. The 45 initial approvals in FY2024 show the lane exists. Netflix is a for-profit company, not a university or nonprofit research employer, so a first H-1B there is cap-subject: its registration for you has to be selected before it can file.

Netflix's New Grad program page says "New Grad roles are typically posted in late September or October" and that availability "may vary each year depending on our hiring needs." It says nothing about visa sponsorship, so ask the recruiter. That posting window has just passed for this cycle; check the page for roles still open. Whether the October cut changed the program is not public.

Three rules shape your odds:

• The lottery. FY2028 registration has not been announced as of 2026-11-01; March 2027 is an expectation only. USCIS must announce the period at least 30 calendar days ahead (8 CFR 214.2(h)(8)(iii)(A)(3)), so watch its registration page.
• The wage level. Wage-weighted selection is in effect since 2026-02-27: a Level IV registration gets four entries, Level I gets one. The level depends on the offered wage against DOL wage data for the occupation and area.
• Cap-gap. A timely cap-subject change-of-status petition can extend your F-1 status and OPT work authorization up to April 1 of the fiscal year requested under cap-gap. It ends automatically if the petition is denied, withdrawn, revoked or rejected.

Does Netflix hire OPT students?

Post-completion OPT is your own work authorization, so no employer petition is needed for you to start. A STEM OPT extension requires an employer enrolled in E-Verify that signs Form I-983, your training plan. Look Netflix up in E-Verify's employer search and confirm the I-983 process with the recruiter before you plan on Netflix STEM OPT time.

Did Netflix lay off H-1B workers in October 2026?

Netflix announced on 2026-10-14 that it is cutting about 1,000 roles, roughly 6% of its workforce. According to the Associated Press, co-CEOs Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos wrote that product, technology, legal and HR teams would be "the most impacted." Netflix has not said how many of those workers held H-1B or STEM OPT status, AP gave no separation dates, and no public dataset shows visa holders in the cut. Treat any post that gives a number as unverified.

A layoff does not mean an employer stopped sponsoring; our analysis of whether employers with 2026 layoffs still sponsor H-1Bs explains why headcount and visa budgets are separate decisions. What the cut changes is the legal backdrop for Netflix's next filings.

Laid off at Netflix on H-1B or STEM OPT

If you were in the October cut:

• H-1B. USCIS's H-1B page says that if you are laid off you "may have up to 60 consecutive days or until the end of your authorized validity period, whichever is shorter, to find new employment, change status, or depart the country." Removing that period is only proposed (RIN 1615-AD22; about 27,000 comments as of 2026-11-01; comments close 2026-11-10, 11:59 p.m. ET). As proposed, only the window of up to 10 days after a petition's validity end date would remain, and it runs from that end date, not from a layoff. A closed comment period is not a final rule; check the Federal Register after 2026-11-10.
• Your end date. Ask HR in writing for your official employment end date, which can differ from your last working day, and have an immigration attorney map it to your grace period.
• STEM OPT. You get 150 unemployment days in aggregate, including days used on post-completion OPT (90 on post-completion OPT alone), per the SEVIS unemployment counter page. Under the STEM OPT reporting rules, your employer reports the end to your DSO "no later than five business days" after it, and you report the change "within 10 days."
• Cap-gap. If Netflix withdraws a pending cap petition it filed for you, cap-gap ends with it. Call your DSO the same day.

Our layoff playbook for OPT and H-1B workers covers the first 72 hours and a week-by-week plan, and laid off on STEM OPT covers the final I-983 evaluation.

What EO 14431 and the PERM layoff rule mean for Netflix

Two rules now attach to the October cut. Neither is a ban.

EO 14431 (signed 2026-09-18) is in effect as a directive. Section 3(a) of the order tells the Secretaries of State, Labor and Homeland Security to "take into account" whether the employer sponsor "directly or indirectly engaged in layoffs within the previous year or plans future layoffs that negatively affect the employment of similarly situated United States workers." It defines neither "layoffs" nor "similarly situated," creates no automatic denial, and as of 2026-11-01 has no DOL or USCIS implementing guidance. Our EO 14431 explainer goes deeper.

20 CFR 656.17(k) is the existing PERM rule. After a layoff by the employer "in the area of intended employment within 6 months of filing," in the same or a related occupation, the employer must document that it notified and considered all potentially qualified laid-off US workers. The rule counts as a layoff "any involuntary separation of one or more employees without cause or prejudice." That adds a step to Netflix green-card filings; it does not stop them.

A worked timeline of the October cut (as of 2026-11)

So FY2028 cap petitions filed in spring 2027 would sit inside EO 14431's one-year window. Nobody yet knows how agencies will weigh that; assume neither a denial nor a free pass.

Does Netflix sponsor green cards?

Netflix does not publish PERM numbers, and the Data Hub covers H-1B only, so there is no green-card count to quote. Search DOL's PERM disclosure files (latest public file FY2026 Q3, through 2026-06-30), linked from the OFLC performance data page, under the Netflix name; our guide to checking whether a company sponsors green cards shows how.

• Netflix is not on DOL's PERM suspension list. The suspension announced 2026-10-08 (in effect, with no written notice and no end date) covers Microsoft, Adobe, Capgemini, Cognizant, HCL, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro, TechCrunch reported. Mayer Brown notes that it "does not suspend any employer from the H-1B program."
• PERM is slow. DOL's FLAG processing times showed analyst review at January 2026 priority dates, averaging 303 days, as of 2026-10-21. Check the live page.
• PERM rules have not changed. DOL's PERM labor-market-test NPRM (RIN 1205-AC29) cleared White House review on 2026-10-23 but has not been published, so current 20 CFR 656.17 applies.

Does Netflix accept H-1B transfers?

In practice, yes; it is Netflix's main sponsorship lane. Continuing approvals, which include change-of-employer petitions, were 201 of 250 FY2024 first decisions. Our extract does not split transfers from extensions, but the Data Hub lists "Change of employer" as its own category; check it before reading 201 as a transfer count.

USCIS says you "may begin working for the new employer as soon as they properly file a non-frivolous Form I-129 petition on your behalf, or as of the requested start date on that petition, whichever is later." The new employer must file "before your H-1B period of authorized stay expires," and a worker already counted against the cap generally does not face the lottery again.

The $100,000 payment is blocked: the USCIS I-129 page says a court vacated the implementing guidance, though "If this order is later lifted, DHS still plans to collect the payment." Even then, USCIS's H-1B page says it does not reach amendment, change-of-status or extension requests granted inside the US. Our list of companies most likely to accept an H-1B transfer gives peers to target alongside Netflix.

How to check a Netflix role before you apply

1. Search the USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub for "Netflix" and note its initial, continuing and change-of-employer counts.
2. Search DOL's LCA disclosure files (OFLC performance page) for your job title at Netflix, to see the wage and worksite filed.
3. Look up Netflix in E-Verify's employer search before relying on a STEM OPT plan.
4. Ask the recruiter, in writing, whether the team sponsors H-1B at your level and signs I-983s.
5. Book an immigration attorney consult before resigning for a transfer, so the I-129 is filed before your status runs out.
6. Watch the USCIS H-1B registration page for the FY2028 announcement.

Is Netflix a realistic target for you right now?

Common mistakes

• Reading total petitions as new-grad sponsorship. 201 of 250 FY2024 decisions were continuing petitions.
• Assuming the October cut ended Netflix sponsorship. Check the team, not the headline.
• Believing the grace period is gone, or 30 days. As of 2026-11-01 it is up to 60 days; elimination is only proposed.
• Treating EO 14431 as an automatic denial. It is a factor with no guidance yet.
• Waiting only for Netflix's New Grad window. Your 90-day OPT unemployment clock keeps running.
• Resigning before the transfer is filed. Portability starts on filing, not on an offer letter.

Frequently asked questions

Does Netflix sponsor H-1B for new grads?

Yes, but the door is narrow. Netflix Inc had 45 initial H-1B approvals in FY2024, against 201 continuing approvals (extensions and transfers). A first H-1B there is cap-subject, so a new grad needs a lottery selection first, and FY2028 registration had not been announced as of 2026-11-01.

Does Netflix hire OPT students?

OPT is your own work authorization, so Netflix files nothing for you to work on it. Its New Grad roles are typically posted in late September or October. STEM OPT needs an E-Verify employer that signs Form I-983, so confirm both with the recruiter.

Did Netflix lay off H-1B workers in October 2026?

Netflix announced about 1,000 cuts (roughly 6% of staff) on 2026-10-14, hitting product, technology, legal and HR hardest, according to the Associated Press. It has not said how many visa holders were affected. The H-1B 60-day grace period still applies as of 2026-11-01; ending it is only proposed.

Does Netflix sponsor green cards?

Netflix publishes no PERM count, so search DOL's PERM disclosure files under its name. It is not among the eight employers in DOL's 2026-10-08 PERM suspension. Under 20 CFR 656.17(k), a Netflix PERM filed within six months of the layoff, for the same or a related occupation in the same area, needs a laid-off-worker notice step, roughly through mid-April 2027 (our arithmetic).

Does Netflix accept H-1B transfers?

Its FY2024 record points that way. Continuing approvals, which include changes of employer, were 201 of 250 first decisions. If you were already counted against the cap you generally skip the lottery, and under portability you can usually start once Netflix properly files a non-frivolous I-129, or on the requested start date if later.

Sources

• USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub and its explainer
• USCIS, H-1B Specialty Occupations; Form I-129; H-1B registration; cap-gap
• Federal Register, grace-period NPRM (RIN 1615-AD22), EO 14431 and the weighted-selection final rule
• 20 CFR 656.17 (Cornell LII)
• Study in the States, unemployment counter and STEM OPT reporting; E-Verify employer search
• DOL OFLC performance data and FLAG processing times
• Netflix, New Grad program; Associated Press via News4JAX, Netflix layoffs (2026-10-14)
• TechCrunch on the PERM suspension (2026-10-08) and Mayer Brown's analysis

How we checked this: Netflix Inc's FY2024 figures come from the USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub extract behind our company page. We read the USCIS, Study in the States, Federal Register, govinfo, DOL and E-Verify pages above, 20 CFR 656.17 and Netflix's New Grad page on 2026-11-01 and 11-02, and took layoff details from AP's 2026-10-14 report.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Your own I-797, I-94 and I-20 govern your situation; talk to your DSO about OPT and SEVIS, and to a licensed immigration attorney about petitions and status strategy.

If you are weighing Netflix against a wider list of sponsors while your clock runs, F1Jobs can help you build and work that list.