Ohio H-1B Jobs: Cleveland Clinic, Ohio State, Cardinal Health and the Sponsors Beyond Columbus

Ohio's H-1B filings cluster in Cleveland's hospitals, the Columbus-Dublin corridor and Cincinnati, and whether your offer is filed cap-exempt decides if the lottery or your OPT end date is the real deadline.

Part of our guide to H-1B jobs by state and city.

H-1B jobs in Ohio are concentrated in hospitals, universities, corporate headquarters and IT consultancies, spread across Cleveland, the Columbus-Dublin corridor and Cincinnati rather than one tech hub. In the USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub extract behind our Ohio sponsor list, 130 Ohio employers account for 9,630 petitions decided from FY2024 through part of FY2026, led by Cleveland Clinic (610), The Ohio State University (519), SLK America (395), ERP Analysts (382) and Cardinal Health (305). As of 2026-11-01 the wage-weighted lottery is in effect, so whether your Ohio offer is filed cap-exempt shapes your whole timeline.

Status as of 2026-11-01

• In effect: wage-weighted H-1B selection (since 2026-02-27); the cap-exemption rules at 8 CFR 214.2(h)(8)(iii)(F) (since 2025-01-17); the 90-day OPT and 150-day STEM OPT unemployment limits.
• Not announced: FY2028 H-1B registration. USCIS must give at least 30 days' notice; March 2027 is only an expectation.
• Blocked: collection of the $100,000 H-1B payment. Proclamation 11069 stays in effect on paper until 2027-09-21, and the court orders are on appeal.
• Under White House (OIRA) review since 2026-08-24, no text published: USCIS's proposed rule "Reforming the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Classification Program" (RIN 1615-AD00). Its agenda abstract mentions "revising eligibility for cap exemptions" and "increasing oversight over third party placements". The current cap-exemption rules still apply.
• Proposed: OPT fees that schools would pay (and may pass on); comments close 2026-11-09, and nothing is charged without a final rule.

H-1B jobs in Ohio: the short answer

Ohio's biggest H-1B filers are hospitals, universities, corporate headquarters and IT consultancies across Cleveland, Columbus-Dublin and Cincinnati. Universities meeting the Higher Education Act definition are cap-exempt employers, so their petitions skip the lottery. Hospitals may qualify through a university-affiliation or research test. Corporate and consulting roles usually go through the wage-weighted lottery.

Searching only Columbus and Dublin misses most of the map: those two metro pages hold 3,180 of Ohio's 9,630 petitions decided (our arithmetic). Our Columbus H-1B guide covers that metro in depth; this is the statewide map, led by Cleveland and Cincinnati.

Which companies sponsor H-1B in Ohio?

"Petitions decided" counts USCIS's first decisions, approvals and denials, on petitions for new and for continuing employment. Continuing petitions are for people who already hold H-1B status (extensions, amendments and transfers from another employer), so a large total can say little about hiring from OPT. The directory label shows the split: actively hiring means more than half of an employer's petitions were initial (new-employment) petitions, mostly renewals means fewer than one in ten, and mixed is in between.

Ohio's highest-volume H-1B employers, as of 2026-11 (USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub extract used by our directory; FY2024 to FY2026 combined, FY2026 partial)

Two patterns matter if you are on OPT and need a first H-1B. The familiar corporate names (Cardinal Health, Huntington, Sherwin-Williams, Kroger) are labelled mostly renewals: most of their filings were continuing-employment petitions for people already in H-1B status, so a first petition from F-1 is the exception there. The employers labelled actively hiring are mostly universities and hospital systems, plus one Dublin consultancy.

Further down, the Ohio page lists insurers (Progressive, Nationwide), banks (Fifth Third, KeyBank), a contract research organization (Medpace), a solar manufacturer (First Solar in Perrysburg), Honda in Marysville, and more universities and hospitals. Our extract predates USCIS's latest refresh; the live USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub now says it covers through FY2026 quarter 4 (checked 2026-11-01).

By metro, the hub pages count Columbus at 16 employers and 1,638 petitions decided, Dublin at 15 and 1,542, and Cincinnati at 17 and 1,573. Cleveland has no metro page yet, but its four employers in the table total 1,153 (our arithmetic). Employers are filed under their primary city, so Kroger (Blue Ash) sits outside the Cincinnati page.

Cleveland H-1B jobs: hospitals, a research university and industrial headquarters

Cleveland leans on healthcare and research: Cleveland Clinic is the largest Ohio filer in our extract and Case Western is a research university, while Sherwin-Williams and Eaton are for-profit headquarters whose new hires go through the lottery. The Ohio page also lists University Hospitals and MetroHealth, two more Cleveland hospital systems, plus Parker Hannifin and, in suburban Mayfield Village, Progressive. If your field is clinical research, biostatistics, health IT, lab science or engineering, Cleveland deserves its own search. Hospital systems also sponsor software engineers, data analysts and security staff; our guide to hospital systems that sponsor H-1B for IT roles covers which roles they file for.

Is Cleveland Clinic cap-exempt for H-1B?

It depends on a legal test, and the answer can vary by position and by the legal entity that files. A hospital is not cap-exempt simply because it is a hospital or a nonprofit; it has to meet one of the categories in 8 CFR 214.2(h)(8)(iii)(F), in effect since 2025-01-17.

A nonprofit counts as "related to or affiliated with" a university if it meets any one of four conditions: shared ownership or control by the same board or federation; operation by the university; attachment as a member, branch, cooperative or subsidiary; or a formal written affiliation agreement creating an active working relationship for research or education, where "a fundamental activity of the nonprofit entity is to directly contribute to the research or education mission of the institution of higher education."

Two more routes exist. A nonprofit research organization or a governmental research organization is its own exempt category. And a worker not directly employed by a qualifying entity can still be exempt if they "spend at least half of their work time performing job duties at a qualifying institution, organization, or entity" and those duties "directly further an activity that supports or advances" its higher-education or research mission. Telework can count, because "USCIS will focus on the job duties to be performed, rather than where the duties are physically performed." The same analysis applies to Cincinnati Children's, OhioHealth and every other hospital system; our explainer on cap-exempt university hospitals shows how academic medical centers are typically organized.

Common misconception: "Ohio's big hospitals are cap-exempt, so any hospital job skips the lottery." Correction: Exemption depends on which legal entity files and whether it meets one of the routes above; for a worker placed at a qualifying institution, it also turns on the job duties. Ask in writing, "Will this position be filed as cap-exempt, and under which basis?" The employer and its immigration counsel choose how to file and USCIS decides; a job board's "cap-exempt" tag decides nothing.

Columbus-Dublin and Cincinnati: where the IT consultancies sit

Columbus holds Ohio State, Huntington and OhioHealth; Dublin holds Cardinal Health and two large IT services firms, ERP Analysts and Strategic Systems. Cincinnati mixes all three routes: SLK America (IT services, usually cap-subject), Cincinnati Children's (a hospital whose status turns on the affiliation test) and the University of Cincinnati (a cap-exempt public university), with Kroger filing from nearby Blue Ash. Our Cincinnati H-1B guide goes employer by employer.

Do Dublin, Ohio IT firms sponsor OPT students?

The data shows Dublin consultancies filing many H-1B petitions; it does not show who they hire on OPT, so ask each firm. Post-completion OPT itself needs no sponsorship. STEM OPT does put conditions on the employer: under 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(C), it must be enrolled in E-Verify and must sign the Form I-983 training plan, which commits it to report your termination or departure to your DSO within five business days. If a consultancy would place you at a client, ask who signs the I-983 and who supervises your training.

The second rule is the unemployment clock. SEVP counts each day "without employer information" against the 90-day post-completion OPT limit or the 150-day STEM OPT aggregate, per the SEVIS Help Hub unemployment counter page. If a firm says you may sit "on the bench" between projects, ask your DSO how that time would be reported before you sign.

Which Ohio universities sponsor H-1B?

Ohio State, Case Western and the University of Cincinnati are the largest university filers in our extract. Further down, the Ohio page also lists Ohio University in Athens, the University of Toledo, Kent State, Miami University, Bowling Green State and Oberlin College. Under 8 CFR 214.2(h)(8)(iii)(F)(1), an "institution of higher education" takes the Higher Education Act definition (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)), and employment at one is exempt from the cap. Because the exemption follows the employer, research, IT, analytics and administrative roles employed by a university can all be filed cap-exempt, provided the job itself qualifies as an H-1B specialty occupation. Confirm the filing route with the university's international scholars office.

Watch state politics. Florida's Board of Governors paused new H-1B hires at 12 public universities from 2026-03-02 until at least 2027-01-05, renewals excepted, per Central Florida Public Media. Texas froze new petitions at public universities and state agencies from 2026-01-27 through 2027-05-31 unless the Texas Workforce Commission gives written permission, per FOX 7 Austin. We found no comparable Ohio order as of early November 2026, which is not a guarantee; ask the international scholars office whether any policy limits new filings.

After Ohio's SEVIS drop: how to approach the search

Ohio's student pipeline shrank at nearly twice the national rate. Active F-1 and M-1 records in the October 2026 SEVIS data were 13.3% lower than in October 2025 (our sums of DHS tables), against 7.1% nationally, 5.4% in California, 7.2% in Texas, 8.0% in New York and 10.1% in Michigan. Ohio State separately reported that its international enrollment "declined 12.7% to 5,234" for fall 2026, per Higher Ed Dive (2026-09-25). These are different measures of students, not jobs; our state-by-state SEVIS breakdown sets Ohio beside other states.

Our reading: a smaller F-1 cohort neither creates nor removes sponsorship, and the SEVIS tables say nothing about how many Ohio employers will file next year. What you control is the shape of the search:

• Search statewide. Columbus and Dublin hold about a third of Ohio's petitions decided; Cleveland, Cincinnati and the smaller cities hold the rest.
• Put cap-exempt employers early on your list. With the weighted lottery favoring higher wage levels, a university or qualifying affiliate role takes the lottery out of your first H-1B.
• Raise cap status at the first interview, not at the offer, so you can plan around the registration calendar and your OPT end date.

Cap-exempt vs cap-subject in Ohio: what changes for you

Cap-exempt vs cap-subject H-1B, as of 2026-11

Sources: the USCIS cap-gap page; 8 CFR 214.2(h)(2)(i)(J), which bars filing "earlier than 6 months before the date of actual need"; and the weighted selection final rule. Our explainer on whether cap-gap applies to cap-exempt petitions shows how to work backward from your EAD end date.

On the $100,000 payment, the Form I-129 page (updated 2026-10-30) says a court "vacated agency guidance implementing the $100,000 payment requirement" and that "If this order is later lifted, DHS still plans to collect the payment." USCIS's H-1B page (2026-09-21) says changes of status, amendments and extensions it grants inside the US were never covered; a denied change of status or a consular-processing petition would be if collection resumed. While it was enforced, the fee also reached cap-exempt employers hiring from abroad: a Congressional Research Service insight (2026-10-14) says that in the fee's first eight months, "the number of initial H-1B petitions that DHS received for consular processing from cap-exempt employers dropped 91%."

Worked timeline: two Cleveland offers after a December 2026 graduation

The dates below are illustrative. Say you finish a master's at Case Western on 2026-12-18 and your post-completion OPT EAD runs from 2027-02-01 to 2028-01-31. Offer A is a cap-exempt university research role. Offer B is a cap-subject analyst role at a Cleveland headquarters.

For Offer A, the risk is a late filing, not the lottery: without an approved H-1B that starts by your EAD end date, you stop working until it does. Premium processing for most I-129s is 15 business days as of 2026-11-01, per the USCIS premium processing page, and the I-907 fee is $2,965 (since 2026-03-01) on the fee schedule. A proposed rule titled "Amending the Premium Processing Timeframe" (RIN 1615-AD25) has been under OIRA review since 2026-10-13 with no published text, so don't plan around a change. For Offer B, the risk is the lottery itself, and a STEM degree buys more registration seasons. Check the OPT dates with your DSO and the H-1B dates with the employer's immigration attorney.

How to research an Ohio sponsor before you apply

1. Open the Ohio sponsor list and shortlist employers by metro, field and directory label.
2. Search the USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub by the employer's legal name, filtered to Ohio, and compare initial (new employment) with continuing approvals.
3. Check DOL's OFLC disclosure data (latest files run through 2026-06-30) for the job titles and Ohio worksites each employer files Labor Condition Applications for.
4. Look up the prevailing wage for the job's occupation code and county in the DOL FLAG wage search. Levels are set by area, so the same salary can map to a different level in Cleveland than in a higher-wage metro (our reading). A DOL proposal to raise the percentiles behind each level (RIN 1205-AC30) is still only proposed as of 2026-11-01.
5. Ask the recruiter whether the role is filed cap-exempt or cap-subject, whether they hire from OPT and, for STEM OPT, for their E-Verify Company ID.
6. Confirm with your DSO how a new employer, a client-site placement or a gap between projects is reported in SEVIS.
7. Raise cap-exempt basis, start-date and job-change questions with a licensed immigration attorney, usually the employer's counsel.

Is Ohio a good state for international students to find jobs?

For the right fields, yes, with clear limits. Ohio's sponsor activity sits in healthcare, universities, corporate headquarters and IT services. If your target is a large consumer-tech product team, none of the 14 largest Ohio filers above is that kind of company. Health care is still adding jobs nationally, though more slowly: +17,000 in September 2026 against an average of +33,000 a month over the prior year, per the BLS September Employment Situation (released 2026-10-02). That matters in a state whose top filer is a hospital system.

Plan the second move as carefully as the first: leaving a cap-exempt employer for a private company puts you back in the lottery unless you were previously counted against the cap.

Common mistakes

• Treating "hospital" as "cap-exempt." The test is legal, entity-specific and sometimes position-specific.
• Reading petition counts as openings. Counts include denials and renewals; check the directory label and the new-hire split.
• Assuming cap-gap covers a university offer. It covers only cap-subject petitions, so a late cap-exempt filing can leave a gap.
• Planning to jump from a cap-exempt job to a Dublin consultancy without a lottery. You become cap-subject unless previously counted.
• Taking a STEM OPT consultancy role without checking E-Verify and the I-983. Both are regulatory conditions on the employer.
• Writing off the $100,000 fee as gone, or assuming it is charged. Collection is blocked but on appeal, and changes of status USCIS grants inside the US were never covered.
• Reading Ohio's SEVIS decline as a hiring signal. It measures student records, not employer demand.

Frequently asked questions

Which companies sponsor H-1B in Ohio?

In the USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub extract behind our company pages, the largest Ohio filers from FY2024 through part of FY2026 are Cleveland Clinic (610 petitions decided), The Ohio State University (519), SLK America (395), ERP Analysts (382) and Cardinal Health (305), followed by Huntington, Strategic Systems, Cincinnati Children's, Case Western, OhioHealth, Sherwin-Williams, Eaton, the University of Cincinnati and Kroger. The counts include renewals and denials, so check each employer's new-hire share before treating it as a first-time sponsor.

Is Cleveland Clinic cap-exempt for H-1B?

It depends on a legal test, not on the name, and the answer can differ by filing entity and position. Under 8 CFR 214.2(h)(8)(iii)(F), in effect since 2025-01-17, a nonprofit is cap-exempt if it is tied to a university through shared control, university operation, membership or subsidiary status, or a written affiliation agreement under which a fundamental activity of the nonprofit directly contributes to the university's research or education mission, or if it is a nonprofit research organization. Ask the employer in writing whether your position will be filed cap-exempt and on what basis.

Is Ohio a good state for international students to find jobs?

For healthcare, research, IT services and corporate roles it can be: 130 Ohio employers account for 9,630 petitions decided from FY2024 through part of FY2026 in our extract, and universities and some hospitals can file cap-exempt. Active F-1 and M-1 SEVIS records in Ohio fell 13.3% from October 2025 to October 2026, which measures the student pipeline, not employer demand. Fit depends on your field and on whether your targets file cap-exempt.

Do Dublin, Ohio IT firms sponsor OPT students?

Dublin IT services firms file many H-1B petitions, led by ERP Analysts (382) and Strategic Systems (254) from FY2024 through part of FY2026 in our extract, but the data does not show who they hire on OPT, so ask each firm. Post-completion OPT itself needs no employer sponsorship. For STEM OPT the employer must be enrolled in E-Verify and sign Form I-983, and days without qualifying employment count toward the 90-day or 150-day unemployment limit.

Which Ohio universities sponsor H-1B?

The Ohio State University (519 petitions decided), Case Western Reserve University (199) and the University of Cincinnati (140) are the largest university filers in our FY2024 to FY2026 extract (FY2026 partial), and Ohio University, the University of Toledo, Kent State, Miami University, Bowling Green State and Oberlin College also appear on the Ohio list. An institution of higher education under the Higher Education Act definition is a cap-exempt employer, so its petitions skip the lottery. Cap-exempt petitions get no cap-gap protection, so they need to be filed well before your OPT ends.

Sources

• USCIS, H-1B Employer Data Hub
• eCFR, 8 CFR 214.2 (cap exemptions, filing timing, STEM OPT employer conditions)
• USCIS, cap-gap extension page and H-1B electronic registration process
• USCIS, Form I-129, H-1B specialty occupations, premium processing and fee schedule G-1055 (edition 10/26/26)
• Federal Register, weighted selection final rule and OPT fees NPRM
• DHS SEVP, October 2026 SEVIS data and unemployment counter
• DOL, OFLC performance data and FLAG wage search; BLS, Employment Situation (September 2026, released 2026-10-02)
• Congressional Research Service, Insight IN12747 (2026-10-14)
• reginfo.gov, RIN 1615-AD00 agenda entry

How we checked this: employer and metro counts come from the USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub extract behind our company pages; rules were read on eCFR, USCIS, SEVP, DOL, BLS, CRS and the Federal Register on 2026-11-01 and rechecked on 2026-11-02. This is general information, not legal or tax advice; your own I-20, EAD and I-797, and the advice of your DSO or a licensed immigration attorney, govern your case.

If you want a search built around the Ohio employers that actually file, cap-exempt and cap-subject alike, F1Jobs can help you plan it.