Software Engineers at Defense-Tech Startups: Anduril, Shield AI, and the Visa Reality

Defense-tech startups like Anduril and Shield AI are hiring aggressively — but clearance requirements and hiring restrictions make visa sponsorship a genuinely complicated question for international candidates.

You spent months building up a robotics or autonomy portfolio. You can write efficient embedded C++, you understand computer vision pipelines, and every defense-tech job posting reads like it was written for you. Then you scroll to the bottom of the job description: "This position requires an active Secret clearance. US citizenship required." And just like that, a door that looked wide open closes.

The defense-tech startup wave — companies like Anduril Industries, Shield AI, Joby Aviation, Saildrone, Joby, Skydio, and a growing list of well-funded peers — is one of the most technically exciting hiring markets of the mid-2020s. It is also one of the more complicated hiring markets for international candidates. Understanding exactly where the walls are, and where gaps exist, determines whether you waste months of effort on dead-end applications or find the roles that are genuinely open to you.

Why defense-tech is different from regular tech

Standard civilian tech companies — cloud platforms, SaaS, fintech, e-commerce — have broad latitude to hire international talent. Visa status is largely a compliance matter. Defense-tech operates under a different legal overlay that interacts with your immigration status in ways that have nothing to do with USCIS.

Two regulatory regimes matter most.

ITAR — International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Administered by the State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, ITAR controls the export of defense articles, defense services, and related technical data listed on the US Munitions List. "Export" under ITAR includes disclosing technical data to a foreign national inside the United States — this is called a "deemed export." The defense-tech products that Anduril, Shield AI, and similar companies build frequently involve ITAR-controlled hardware and software. To work on those products, you must be a "US person" under ITAR — a US citizen, lawful permanent resident (green card holder), refugee, or asylee. H-1B holders, OPT workers, and STEM OPT workers do not meet this definition unless they separately hold a green card.

Security clearances. A Secret or Top Secret clearance is issued by a US government agency through an adjudication process that evaluates loyalty, reliability, and foreign influence. The process requires US citizenship — not just permanent residency in most cases. An H-1B holder cannot obtain a clearance. A green card holder can begin the process in some cases, though it is harder and slower than for a citizen. An F-1 student has essentially no path to a clearance.

These two frameworks stack on top of each other in ways that significantly narrow which roles are available at defense-tech companies. Understanding them precisely prevents wasted time.

The actual landscape at major defense-tech startups

Here is a practical breakdown of the main players and what the hiring reality looks like for international candidates as of 2026.

This table reflects general patterns — individual roles vary, and company hiring policies change. Always verify with HR for the specific role you are considering.

Anduril is the most prominent name in this space thanks to its high-profile funding and aggressive hiring narrative. Its core products — the Lattice software-defined battle management platform, autonomous underwater vehicles, counter-drone systems — are deeply ITAR-controlled. A large fraction of their engineering headcount requires clearance. However, Anduril does have teams working on cloud infrastructure, data engineering, and developer experience that are not clearance-gated. These roles appear in their job board with fewer restrictions, and they have sponsored H-1B petitions in prior fiscal years through the regular cap-subject lottery.

Shield AI's H1-NG autonomous fighter jet program and Heron autonomous systems are equally restricted. The same structural pattern applies — a cleared core with a smaller non-cleared supporting infrastructure.

Skydio has a more balanced split because a meaningful portion of its revenue comes from civilian commercial and first-responder applications (non-defense). Their autonomy and computer vision R&D team has had more international hires. If you are specifically interested in autonomous systems and can demonstrate relevant research, Skydio is a more realistic target than Anduril for an H-1B candidate.

How ITAR interacts with OPT and STEM OPT

This is the question that catches many F-1 students off guard. You have a valid EAD, you have 12 months of OPT or 24 additional months of STEM OPT — your work authorization looks fine. The issue is not your authorization to work in the US; it is your authorization to access specific technical data under a separate federal regulatory scheme.

If a defense-tech company places you on an ITAR-controlled project without an export license covering your access, both you and the company are potentially in violation of federal export control law — penalties that are serious enough that most compliance teams simply refuse to take the risk.

Some companies apply for ITAR export licenses to permit individual foreign national employees to access specific controlled technology. This is a legitimate compliance path, but it is slow (the process can take months), expensive, and not guaranteed to be approved. Very few startups in growth mode want to take on this overhead for a junior engineer when cleared US citizens are available.

What this means practically: if you are on OPT or STEM OPT, the roles realistically available to you at defense-tech startups are those that the company has affirmatively confirmed do not involve ITAR-controlled technical data or export-controlled information. Internal tooling, HR/finance platforms, some cloud operations, parts of developer experience — these can sometimes be genuinely open. "Some roles may be available" is not the same as "we will hire you for the cool autonomous weapons project."

Read our ITAR and aerospace hiring guide for a deeper look at how these export control rules apply across the broader aerospace and defense sector.

Roles that are realistically accessible to H-1B candidates

If you are genuinely interested in working at a defense-tech company — the culture, the mission, the engineering challenges on the non-classified side — here is where to focus your energy.

Cloud and infrastructure. Internal AWS/GCP/Azure environments, container orchestration, Kubernetes platform teams. These do not touch classified systems.

Data engineering and analytics. Data pipelines for business intelligence, HR analytics, finance operations. Not touching classified data.

Developer experience and tooling. CI/CD pipelines, internal developer platforms, test automation frameworks. Largely classification-agnostic.

Corporate IT and security. Enterprise security posture, endpoint management, compliance tooling. Sometimes requires clearance, sometimes does not — verify.

R&D roles at companies with strong civilian product lines. Skydio, Joby, some Saildrone work. The technical challenge is real; the clearance dependency is lower.

Applied AI/ML for non-classified datasets. Some companies have ML teams working on public geospatial data, weather modeling, or sensor fusion problems that are not ITAR-restricted. These are rare but exist.

The key step every time: when you get to a recruiter screen, ask directly — "Does this role require a US security clearance, or does it involve access to ITAR-controlled technical data?" A recruiter who hedges or cannot answer should escalate to the compliance team before you spend time on technical rounds. See our overview of how government contractors and citizenship requirements shape the overall landscape of defense-adjacent hiring.

The H-1B sponsorship question — what to actually expect

Defense-tech startups do file H-1B petitions. Anduril appears in DOL LCA disclosure data in multiple prior fiscal years. The absolute numbers tend to be small relative to the company's total headcount, reflecting the structural clearance constraint. You should not interpret "they have sponsored before" as "they sponsor broadly."

The realistic scenario for an H-1B candidate at a defense-tech startup looks like this:

1. You get an offer for a non-clearance infrastructure or data role.
2. The company's immigration team files an LCA with the DOL at the appropriate prevailing wage level (Level I through IV based on your experience tier).
3. The I-129 petition enters the cap-subject lottery in March. Because these companies are not cap-exempt, you need to win the lottery.
4. If selected in the lottery, USCIS adjudicates the petition with standard 3-6 month timelines unless the company pays for premium processing ($2,965 as of 2026 for 15 business-day adjudication).
5. H-1B begins October 1 if approved.

If you already hold H-1B status from a prior employer, a defense-tech company can file a transfer petition cap-exempt, meaning no lottery risk. This is a significantly better position to be in — transfer candidates at these companies face the policy and compliance constraints, not the lottery constraint.

For a full walk-through of the H-1B lottery mechanics and what a wage-weighted selection means for your odds, see our FY2027 H-1B lottery guide.

The green card path at defense-tech companies

PERM labor certification followed by EB-2 or EB-3 sponsorship is the standard green card path at most US employers, and defense-tech is no different for non-clearance roles. The employer files a PERM application with DOL demonstrating that no qualified US worker was available for the position, then files I-140, then you wait in the visa bulletin queue. For Indian nationals, the EB-2 and EB-3 India backlogs are currently measured in decades; the EB-2 NIW self-petition route (which bypasses PERM and requires no specific employer) is worth exploring if your research background supports it.

Once you obtain a green card, your status under ITAR changes: you become a US person and can begin the clearance process. For an engineer with clearance-adjacent technical skills, this is the genuine long-term path to the highest-value defense-tech engineering roles. The employer-sponsorship dependency through PERM is real — you need an employer willing to go through the process — but defense-tech companies with non-clearance engineering roles do run PERM cases.

For strategic thinking about EB-2 NIW as an alternative to PERM dependency, read our EB-2 NIW self-petition guide.

Step-by-step: how to evaluate a defense-tech job opportunity

Use this checklist before investing time in an application or technical interview process.

1. Read the full job description carefully for citizenship or clearance language. Phrases like "US citizenship required," "active Secret clearance," "must be eligible for a government clearance," or "US person" are disqualifying if you are on a temporary visa without a green card.
2. Search the company's LCA disclosures. The DOL's Foreign Labor Certification Data Center publishes LCA data. Search the company name to see whether they have filed LCAs for roles similar to the one you are considering.
3. Contact the recruiter directly in your first message. State your visa status (OPT, H-1B, etc.) and ask whether the role requires a clearance or involves ITAR-controlled data. This screens yourself efficiently and signals maturity.
4. Ask specifically about the ITAR compliance status of the role. "Does this role involve access to ITAR-controlled technical data?" is a specific enough question that compliance teams can answer it.
5. Get any commitment in writing before accepting an offer. If the recruiter tells you verbally that the role is open to H-1B candidates, confirm it in the written offer letter or a separate email. Compliance teams sometimes change their assessment after an informal conversation.
6. Evaluate the company's immigration infrastructure. Does the company use a dedicated immigration attorney, or do they expect you to self-navigate? Small startups under 200 people sometimes lack the HR infrastructure to support a complex H-1B case.
7. Factor in the STEM OPT 90-day unemployment clock. If you are on STEM OPT and a job offer falls through due to compliance complications discovered late in the process, that time counts against your 90-day OPT unemployment limit. Identify visa compatibility early to protect your clock. Our guide on protecting your OPT unemployment clock covers this in detail.

Common mistakes

Applying to clearance-required roles hoping an exception will be made. There are no exceptions to clearance requirements based on merit or technical skill. A company that lists "Secret clearance required" is not going to waive that for an exceptional candidate on OPT. You will spend 3-4 hours on a technical screen before being told no.

Treating "defense tech" as a monolithic category. Anduril and Joby Aviation are both in the defense-adjacent hardware space; their visa hiring realities are quite different. Research the specific company's product mix, not just the industry label.

Ignoring ITAR because you have work authorization. EAD or H-1B work authorization is a USCIS concept. ITAR is a State Department concept. They are separate regulatory systems. Having one does not mean you satisfy the other.

Failing to ask the ITAR question at the recruiter screen. The first call is exactly the right moment to clarify visa and compliance compatibility. Asking this question does not make you look uncommitted — it demonstrates that you understand the regulatory environment.

Assuming the company will handle all ITAR compliance on your behalf. You need to be personally confident that your access to specific data is authorized. If you access ITAR-controlled technical data without proper authorization, you carry personal legal exposure, not just the company.

Overlooking companies with civilian product lines. The bias in media coverage is toward the most defense-heavy companies. For international candidates, companies with strong civilian revenue — drone photography, commercial autonomous vehicles, aviation — are often better targets.

Cybersecurity roles specifically

Cybersecurity is a growing specialty within defense-tech, and it has its own twist: many offensive security and government-facing roles require clearance, but some cybersecurity work (network defense, cloud security posture, application security) can be done without clearance on the right projects. If cybersecurity is your focus, you have more options at general tech companies with strong security teams than at defense-specific startups. Read our cybersecurity H-1B sponsorship guide for a full breakdown of where cybersecurity roles are most accessible to international candidates.

Frequently asked questions

Do Anduril or Shield AI sponsor H-1B visas for software engineers?

Both companies have sponsored H-1B visas in past years, but their sponsorship rates are meaningfully lower than comparably-sized civilian tech companies. Many of their highest-value roles require a US security clearance at the outset, which is only available to US citizens and permanent residents. Roles that do not require a clearance — often in cloud infrastructure, data pipelines, or internal tooling — are more realistically available to H-1B candidates.

Can an F-1 student on OPT work at a defense-tech startup?

Working at a defense-tech startup on OPT is legally possible if the role does not require a security clearance and does not involve access to export-controlled technology under ITAR or EAR. Some roles are accessible; many others are not. You need written confirmation from HR before accepting an offer that your visa status and work authorization are compatible with the specific role's compliance requirements.

What does ITAR have to do with visa status at defense companies?

ITAR — the International Traffic in Arms Regulations — restricts access to defense-related technical data and hardware to "US persons," a category that includes US citizens, lawful permanent residents (green card holders), and certain asylees and refugees. F-1, OPT, STEM OPT, and H-1B holders are generally not US persons under ITAR unless they have a green card. This means that even if a company wants to hire you, specific ITAR-controlled projects may be off-limits without a license or reclassification.

Is a security clearance required for all software engineering jobs at defense-tech startups?

No. Many defense-tech startups have internal teams working on general-purpose infrastructure, developer tooling, HR systems, finance platforms, and other non-classified projects. These roles can sometimes be filled by non-US-persons, including H-1B visa holders. The key is asking specifically whether the role requires a clearance or involves ITAR-controlled technical data. If the job description says "active clearance required" or "US citizen only," that is a hard requirement with no workaround.

What visa paths actually work long-term for international engineers at defense companies?

The most durable path is H-1B sponsorship for non-clearance roles, followed by employer-sponsored PERM leading to EB-2 or EB-3 green card. Once you have a green card, you become a US person under ITAR and can begin the clearance process. Some international engineers also explore EB-1A or EB-2 NIW self-petition routes if they have published research or exceptional achievements in related fields, which bypass the employer-PERM dependency entirely.

Defense tech is genuinely exciting, and the engineering problems are among the hardest in industry. The visa reality is not a reason to rule it out entirely — it is a reason to go in with clear eyes, ask the right questions early, and focus your energy on the roles that are actually open to you. Companies like Skydio, Joby, and the infrastructure teams at larger defense-tech startups hire international engineers regularly. The path exists; it just requires more precision in how you search for it.

If you want help identifying defense-tech and adjacent roles where your specific visa status is compatible, F1Jobs works with candidates navigating exactly this kind of complex hiring landscape every week.