ML Research Engineer Visa Sponsorship Jobs in California

California is the top state for ML research engineer visa sponsorship, driven by a concentration of major tech employers across the San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley, and Los Angeles. Companies like Google, Meta, Apple, and dozens of AI-focused startups and research labs regularly sponsor H-1B visa and O-1 visas for qualified ML research engineers.

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Overview

Open Jobs6,228+
Top Visa TypeH-1B
Work Type76% On-site
Top LocationSan Francisco, CA
Most JobsApple

Showing 5 of 6,228+ ML Research Engineer Jobs in California with Visa Sponsorship

AMD
ML Systems Research Engineer
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AMD
New 17h ago
ML Systems Research Engineer
AMD
Santa Clara, California
Software Engineering
Data Science & Analytics
Data Engineering
Data Science
Hybrid
Bachelor's
5,001-10,000

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Protiviti
AI ML Solution Architect & Developer Senior Manager
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Protiviti
New 19h ago
AI ML Solution Architect & Developer Senior Manager
Protiviti
Los Angeles, California
Software Engineering
Technical Product & Program Management
Cloud & DevOps
Partnerships & Business Development
AI (Artificial Intelligence)
ML (Machine Learning)
Cloud Engineering
Business Development
$159k - $291k/yr
Hybrid
Bachelor's
5,001-10,000

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GEICO
Senior Staff ML Engineer
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GEICO
Added 1d ago
Senior Staff ML Engineer
GEICO
Palo Alto, California
Software Engineering
Data Science & Analytics
Technical Product & Program Management
AI (Artificial Intelligence)
ML (Machine Learning)
Technical Program Management
$150k - $300k/yr
On-Site
Bachelor's
10,000+

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NVIDIA
Evaluation and ML Systems Engineer
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NVIDIA
Added 3d ago
Evaluation and ML Systems Engineer
NVIDIA
Santa Clara, California
Software Engineering
Data Science & Analytics
Data Engineering
AI (Artificial Intelligence)
ML (Machine Learning)
Data Science
Security Engineering
$152k - $242k/yr
On-Site
Bachelor's
10,000+

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Apple
ML Data Research Scientist
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Apple
Added 5d ago
ML Data Research Scientist
Apple
Cupertino, California
Data Science & Analytics
Software Engineering
Data Science
$150k - $225k/yr
On-Site
Bachelor's
10,000+

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ML Research Engineer Job Roles in California

Software Engineering5,323 jobs
Backend Engineering2,751 jobs
Data Science & Analytics2,033 jobs
Cloud & DevOps1,769 jobs
Technical Product & Program Management1,761 jobs
Data Science1,599 jobs
AI (Artificial Intelligence)1,529 jobs
ML (Machine Learning)942 jobs
Technical Program Management917 jobs
Data Engineering676 jobs

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ML Research Engineer Jobs in California: Frequently Asked Questions

Which companies sponsor visas for ML research engineers in California?

California's largest ML research engineer sponsors include Google DeepMind, Meta AI, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and NVIDIA, all with significant California research presence. Beyond big tech, AI-focused companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, and Waymo also file H-1B petitions for ML research roles. DOL H-1B disclosure data consistently shows California employers among the highest-volume sponsors for machine learning and AI research positions nationally.

Which visa types are most common for ML research engineer roles in California?

The H-1B is the most common visa for ML research engineers in California, as the role typically qualifies as a specialty occupation requiring at least a bachelor's degree in computer science, machine learning, or a related field. The O-1A is another pathway for researchers with published work, conference recognition, or industry awards. International students completing master's or PhD programs in California may also work under OPT or STEM OPT before transitioning to employer-sponsored status.

Which cities in California have the most ML research engineer sponsorship jobs?

The San Francisco Bay Area, including San Jose, Mountain View, Menlo Park, and San Francisco itself, accounts for the largest share of ML research engineer sponsorship activity in California. Los Angeles has grown significantly, driven by research labs, entertainment technology companies, and university-affiliated AI programs. San Diego also has a meaningful cluster, particularly in biotech-adjacent machine learning and defense research.

How to find ml research engineer visa sponsorship jobs in California?

Migrate Mate is built specifically for international job seekers and filters ML research engineer roles in California by visa sponsorship availability, saving you from manually vetting employer histories. Because ML research positions often require deep specialization, filtering by specific subfields like NLP, computer vision, or reinforcement learning helps narrow results. Migrate Mate surfaces employers with active sponsorship records, which is particularly useful in California where both large tech firms and early-stage AI startups are actively hiring.

Are there any California-specific considerations for ML research engineers seeking visa sponsorship?

California's prevailing wage requirements under DOL rules apply to H-1B petitions filed for positions in the state, and wages for ML research engineers in major California metros are among the highest Level I and Level II benchmarks in the country. Many candidates entering this field have come through PhD programs at UC Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA, or UC San Diego, which have established pipelines into sponsored research roles. California also has a dense network of university-affiliated research labs where sponsored postdoctoral or staff researcher roles are common entry points.

What is the prevailing wage for sponsored ml research engineer jobs in California?

U.S. employers sponsoring a visa must pay at least the prevailing wage, which is what workers in the same role, area, and experience level typically earn. The Department of Labor sets this rate to make sure companies aren't hiring foreign workers simply because they'd accept lower pay than a U.S. worker. It varies by job title, location, and experience. You can look up current prevailing wage rates for any occupation and location using the OFLC Wage Search page.