Systems Engineer at Lockheed Martin — H-1B Wage Level, PERM Record & Green Card Timeline

Lockheed Martin is the largest U.S. defense contractor and, notably, defense-sector employers face additional constraints on H-1B and green card sponsorship due to export-control (ITAR) and security-clearance requirements that often limit roles to U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Systems Engineer is a core Lockheed Martin occupation, comparable to Boeing's documented Systems Engineer H-1B filings, but overall defense-sector H-1B volume tends to be lower than commercial aerospace peers. This research pass did not independently retrieve Lockheed Martin's current-year DOL LCA disclosure — figures below are benchmarked against peer aerospace/defense sponsors and flagged for verification.

Data Table: Lockheed Martin H-1B & Green Card Snapshot (needs verification)

Metric	Value	Source
Sponsor type	Largest U.S. defense contractor; H-1B/green card sponsorship constrained by ITAR export-control and security-clearance requirements on many roles	General industry/regulatory knowledge — needs_review, Lockheed-specific figures not independently confirmed this session
Estimated H-1B wage range (Systems Engineer, Level II–III)	~$115,000–$145,000	Benchmarked to Boeing ($140,889 avg) — needs_review, not Lockheed-specific
ITAR/security-clearance impact	Many Lockheed Martin roles require U.S. citizenship or permanent residency due to export-control restrictions, independent of H-1B eligibility	General regulatory knowledge — confirm role-specific requirements directly with Lockheed Martin
PERM certified/denied breakdown	Not independently verified for Lockheed Martin this session	needs_review — confirm via DOL OFLC PERM disclosure file directly
EB-2 cutoff (India / China / RoW)	Unavailable / Sep 1 2021 / Current	DOS Visa Bulletin, August 2026
EB-3 cutoff (India / China / RoW)	Jan 1 2014 / Jan 1 2022 / Sep 1 2024	DOS Visa Bulletin, August 2026
I-140 / I-485 processing	2.5–30 months (15 business days premium) / 8.5–38 months	USCIS egov.uscis.gov

Data as of August 2026 · sources: DOS Visa Bulletin, egov.uscis.gov, peer-employer benchmarking. Lockheed Martin-specific DOL/USCIS filing data flagged needs-review — not independently retrieved in this research session.

FAQs

Does Lockheed Martin sponsor Systems Engineers for H-1B? Lockheed Martin does sponsor H-1B for some engineering roles, but a large share of its positions require U.S. citizenship or permanent residency due to ITAR export-control and security-clearance rules — confirm whether a specific role is open to H-1B candidates before assuming standard sponsorship applies.

Why does ITAR matter for defense-sector H-1B sponsorship? The International Traffic in Arms Regulations restrict access to certain controlled technical data to U.S. persons (citizens, permanent residents, and certain protected classes); this can exclude H-1B holders from many defense-program roles even when the occupation itself would otherwise qualify.

What's Lockheed Martin's typical H-1B wage for Systems Engineers? Not independently confirmed this session; peer aerospace/defense sponsors like Boeing averaged $140,889 in FY2025, giving a directional benchmark.

Does Lockheed Martin file PERM green cards for engineers? Likely on a limited scale for non-ITAR-restricted roles — current-year certified/denied figures specific to Systems Engineer were not pulled in this session.

What's the green card wait for an India-chargeability Lockheed Martin hire (on an eligible role)? Same structural constraint as any India-chargeability PERM case: EB-3 at January 1, 2014 and EB-2 unavailable per the August 2026 Visa Bulletin.

Why is this page marked needs-review? Because Lockheed Martin-specific current-year DOL LCA/PERM disclosure data was not independently retrieved in this research session, and because ITAR restrictions materially affect which roles are even open to H-1B sponsorship — verify both points directly before relying on this page.

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