Federal data on H-1B visas reveals how much Nvidia is paying foreign workers across key roles, underscoring the chipmaker’s determination to attract top talent despite a broader slowdown in tech immigration, according to a report by Business Insider. While rivals like Google and Amazon have back on sponsorship amid the Trump administration’s crackdown, Nvidia obtained certification for roughly 1,200 H‑1B positions in the first half of fiscal 2026 which is up from 1,000 a year earlier. As per the federal filing, Nvidia’s pay scale spans a wide range across disciplines. The salaries include:
- AI researchers: Research Scientist ($104,000–$356,500); Principal Research Scientist ($272,000–$431,250)
- Architects: Architect ($131,362–$356,500); Principal Architect ($248,000–$425,500); Solutions Architect ($139,235–$356,500)
- Chip engineers: ASIC Engineer ($136,000–$368,000); Senior Physical Design Engineer ($160,481–$310,500); Verification Engineer ($119,184–$310,500)
- Software engineers: Senior Software Engineer ($139,152–$356,500); Principal Software Engineer ($264,514–$425,500); Systems Software Engineer ($131,997–$287,500)
- Managers and directors: Architecture Director ($320,000–$488,750); Software Engineering Director ($388,918–$471,500); Senior Manager, Systems Software ($272,000–$431,250)
Nvidia’s aggressive hiring strategy
As reported by Business Insider, the data shows the aggressive hiring strategy of Nvidia. The H-1B approvals of Google fell from 5,100 to 2,200 year‑over‑year, whereas that of Amazon dropped from 6,100 to 4,300. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has long stressed on the fact that he gets personally involved in compensation decisions. “I review everybody’s compensation up to this day at the end of every cycle,” Huang said on the All-In podcast last July. He also claimed to have “created more billionaires on my management team than any CEO in the world.” Despite this, the employees of the company acknowledge that those who joined Nvidia earlier have benefited far more from equity appreciation than newer hires, a disparity openly discussed within the company.
Here’s a structured table of Nvidia’s H‑1B base salary ranges across key roles, based on federal filings:
