Data Engineer at Cognizant — H-1B Wage Level, PERM Record & Green Card Timeline
Direct answer: Public LCA disclosure data shows zero H-1B filings under the exact title "Data Engineer" at Cognizant — Cognizant's IT-services filing practice tends to use titles like "Programmer Analyst," "Associate," "Senior Associate," or "Consultant," even for data-engineering work. Cognizant is nonetheless a very large H-1B and PERM sponsor overall, with a low FY2026 denial rate (~1.4%) and a consistent green card program, so the company-wide data below is the best available baseline until you confirm your specific LCA title.
Cognizant Data Engineer — Data Snapshot
| Metric | Value | Data as of · Source |
|---|---|---|
| Disclosed LCA records for exact title "Data Engineer" | 0 records | FY2025 LCA filings · DOL OFLC LCA disclosure, via h1bdata.info, retrieved Aug 2026 |
| Data-quality note | Cognizant commonly files similar work under "Programmer Analyst," "Associate," or "Consultant" — ask your recruiter for your exact LCA job title and SOC code. | — |
| H-1B approvals/denials, FY2026 (company-wide) | 2,657 approved / 38 denied (~1.4% denial rate); of which 806 new-employment approved / 13 new-employment denied | USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub, FY2026, via myvisajobs.com |
| LCA volume, FY2025 (all titles) | 11,140 filed · 11,091 certified · 0 denied · 48 withdrawn | DOL OFLC LCA disclosure, FY2025 |
| PERM (green card) filings | FY2025: 0 filed · FY2024: 741 certified, 494 certified-expired · total since 2017: 10,359 certified | DOL OFLC PERM disclosure |
| Average H-1B salary, FY2025 (company-wide) | $111,593 | myvisajobs.com aggregation |
| Visa sponsor rank | #5 among all H-1B sponsors | myvisajobs.com |
| H-1B dependent employer status | Yes | DOL public employer record |
Modeled Timeline: Offer to Green Card
- Offer → LCA certified: ~7 calendar days.
- LCA → H-1B approved: 2–8 weeks standard, or 15 business days with premium processing. As an H-1B dependent employer, Cognizant is subject to additional attestation requirements that can add documentation steps but don't necessarily add processing time.
- PERM: PWD ~3 months + recruitment ~2–3 months + DOL analyst review ~16–17 months at the current average pace; audits commonly add 6–12+ months. Cognizant's FY2025 PERM count (0 filed in the entity queried, against 741 certified in FY2024) suggests you should confirm timing directly rather than assume continuity.
- I-140: 2.5–3.5 months standard, or 15 business days premium.
- Priority date wait: varies sharply by chargeability — see table below.
- I-485: roughly 8.5–38 months to 80th-percentile completion once current.
Wait time by chargeability country
| Chargeability | EB-2 cutoff, Aug 2026 | EB-3 cutoff, Aug 2026 | Directional wait for a PERM filed today |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | Unavailable (FY2026 limit reached) | Jan 1, 2014 | Multi-year, commonly discussed as a decade or more by immigration attorneys — directional only. Most Cognizant H-1B holders are India-chargeable, so this queue is the primary planning factor for most hires. |
| China | Sept 1, 2021 | Jan 1, 2022 | Several years, shorter than India but still multi-year |
| Rest of World | Current | Sept 1, 2024 | EB-2: little to no wait once I-140 approved; EB-3: roughly ~2 years |
Source: U.S. Department of State Visa Bulletin, August 2026.
FAQs
Why can't I find "Data Engineer" wage data for Cognizant? Cognizant's IT-consulting filing conventions typically use titles like Programmer Analyst, Associate, or Consultant on the actual LCA, regardless of what the internal job title or offer letter says — get your exact LCA title from HR.
What wage level should I expect for data-engineering work at Cognizant? Cognizant's company-wide average H-1B salary is $111,593, which is a reasonable directional baseline, though your specific offer will depend on level, client account, and worksite metro.
Is Cognizant an H-1B dependent employer, and does that matter? Yes. H-1B dependent employers face additional attestation obligations (e.g., non-displacement and good-faith recruitment attestations) under DOL rules, though this doesn't typically change processing timelines for individual petitions.
Does Cognizant's PERM filing count for FY2025 mean green card sponsorship has slowed? It's a real disclosure figure (0 filed that year in this dataset against a 10,359 historical total since 2017 and 741 certified in FY2024), so it's worth a direct conversation with Cognizant's immigration team about your specific case rather than assuming a company-wide pause.
How does Cognizant's ~1.4% denial rate compare to other IT-services firms? It's competitive — notably lower than Infosys's or Wipro's 9-year historical averages (~9.4% and ~10.3% respectively), though those companies have also improved substantially in recent fiscal years.
What should an India-chargeable Cognizant hire expect for green card timing? Given EB-2's Unavailable status and EB-3's January 2014 cutoff in the August 2026 bulletin, plan for a multi-year, realistically many-year, wait once your PERM and I-140 are approved.
Related H-1B & Green Card Timelines
- Business Analyst at Cognizant
- Software Engineer at Cognizant
- Systems Analyst at Cognizant
- DevOps Engineer at Cognizant
- Data Engineer at Apple
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