Visa Sponsorship Jobs: 6 Things Indeed and LinkedIn Miss
What Indeed and LinkedIn leave out of a visa sponsorship job search, from employer filing history to wage floors
Visa sponsorship jobs are hard to find on Indeed and LinkedIn. Both sites carry millions of listings across every industry, and almost all of them are meant for people who can already work in the U.S.
Neither site collects or checks whether an employer sponsors. There is no sponsorship data behind either search.
Below are six things neither site tells you, and where to check each one. Migrate Mate works the other way around, built specifically for international professionals looking for verified visa sponsorship jobs.
1. There is no sponsorship filter, only a keyword search
Neither Indeed nor LinkedIn has a filter for visa sponsorship. What they have is a search bar, and typing "visa sponsorship" into it returns every job whose description contains those words, including the ones using them to rule sponsorship out.
The search also skips employers who sponsor regularly but never write it into a job ad, which is most of them.
So the results show which companies used certain words, not which companies sponsor. Migrate Mate builds its listings from government filing records instead of job ad text.
2. Whether the employer has ever filed for a sponsored worker
Neither site holds the data for this check, and it's the most useful one you can run before applying.
Before any company can hire you on an H-1B, H-1B1, or E-3, it has to file a Labor Condition Application with the Department of Labor. Those filings are public. The Department of Labor publishes every certified one by employer, job title, work address, and salary, and USCIS publishes approved and denied H-1B petitions in its Employer Data Hub.
A company with filings has been through the process before. A company with none hasn't, which doesn't rule it out, but means you're relying on what a recruiter says the company will do.
3. Whether the company posting the job is the company that would file
Plenty of listings that mention sponsorship are posted by staffing agencies and consulting firms rather than the company where you would be working. Only the company that employs you can petition for you, and that name goes on the filing.
If an agency places you with a client, the agency's filing history is what matters. The client's record doesn't help you, because the client isn't the one filing.
Indeed and LinkedIn show you who posted the job. Neither shows you who would file for you, and with agency listings those are often two different companies.
Ask the recruiter which company would file and which one would pay you, then look that company up yourself. Staffing firms are a real route into the U.S. market and many do file their own petitions. Be wary if a recruiter won't give you the name.
Every Migrate Mate listing carries verified direct contact for the hiring manager, so you can put that question to someone who knows the answer.
4. Whether the listing is still open
Both sites leave expired listings up. A job drops out of search results while its page stays live, so a link someone sent you or a bookmark from last month can look current long after the role closed.
A three-month-old listing is no guide to what the company is hiring for now, and applications to closed roles never get a reply, so you can keep sending them for weeks.
Check the posting date, then check the company's own careers page. If Indeed or LinkedIn is showing a job the careers page isn't, it has closed.
5. Whether the salary clears the government wage floor
For H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3, your employer has to pay you the higher of two figures: the government rate for your occupation in your metro area, or what the company already pays its own staff doing the same work.
Indeed and LinkedIn show a salary on some listings. Neither shows the government rate next to it, and that comparison is what decides whether the job can be filed at all. An offer under the floor can't go through, so the company has to raise it or drop the role.
Look up your occupation and metro area on the Department of Labor's OFLC Wage Search before you get to an offer.
6. The sponsorship question on the application can auto-reject you
Applying through either site usually drops you into the employer's own application system, and nearly all of them ask two separate questions: can you work in the U.S. now, and will you need sponsorship later. The second one is scored automatically, and some employers reject everyone who answers yes.
Answer both accurately anyway. If you're on OPT and will need H-1B, H-1B1, or E-3 down the line, the answer to the second question is yes, because OPT ends. Your answer also has to match the employment paperwork you sign when you're hired, and misstating your status there is a federal offense.
Find verified visa sponsorship jobs on Migrate Mate
Indeed and LinkedIn list every job in the country and then try to narrow it down to sponsors using words in a description.
Migrate Mate works the other way around. Listings are built from government disclosure data, so a company has a verified history of sponsoring work visas before any of its jobs appear.
Search 500,000+ verified visa sponsorship jobs
Find your next roleFrequently asked questions
Does LinkedIn have a visa sponsorship filter?
LinkedIn has no dedicated sponsorship filter, so results are text matches against description text. Third-party browser extensions pull from the same public DOL OFLC and USCIS data you can search directly.
What does "sponsorship for employment visa status" mean on a job application?
It's asking whether you'll need the company to petition for a work visa, now or later. Answer yes if you'll need H-1B, H-1B1, E-3, or something similar at any point, including if you're on OPT that will expire. It's a separate question from whether you can work in the U.S. today.
What is the difference between work authorization and visa sponsorship?
Work authorization is whether you can legally work right now. Sponsorship is whether an employer will file to keep you working after that. Someone on OPT has work authorization and will still need sponsorship, which is why applications ask both, and why a yes to the first doesn't answer the second.
What's the fastest way to check a company's visa sponsorship history?
Migrate Mate is the quickest route, because every employer on the platform has already been checked against government disclosure data. To verify a company yourself, search its exact legal name in the Department of Labor's certified LCA files and in the USCIS Employer Data Hub.
Do federal contractor jobs sponsor visas even if the listing doesn't mention citizenship?
Cleared roles typically require U.S. citizenship regardless of what the listing says, since the citizenship requirement is a separate compliance layer. Ask HR directly, and reference the DOJ's IER office if you're asked to prove work authorization beyond what I-9 requires.
How do I find jobs with visa sponsorship?
Start on Migrate Mate, which lists only employers with a verified history of sponsoring work visas. A keyword search on Indeed or LinkedIn brings back ads containing the phrase and misses the many employers who sponsor without writing it down. To research an employer that isn't on the platform, the Department of Labor and USCIS both publish which companies have sponsored before.
About the Author
Founder & CEO @ Migrate Mate
I moved from Australia to the United States in 2023. I have had 3 jobs, and 3 different visas. I started Migrate Mate to help people like me find their dream job in the USA & help them get visa sponsorship.
