PlainVisa

Editorial & Corrections Policy

PlainVisa turns the U.S. Department of Labor's published H-1B disclosure data — Labor Condition Application filings, certification outcomes, offered wages, and worksite geography — into readable employer, occupation, metro, and state pages. This page explains how those pages are produced, the standards we hold them to, and exactly how to flag a number that looks wrong.

How Pages Are Produced

PlainVisa's employer, occupation, metro, and state pages are generated from published federal datasets: the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) LCA Disclosure Data, with USCIS form processing times and Department of State visa wait times where those are shown. We download each source directly from the issuing agency, load it into a structured database, and render every page from that database. The figures you see — petition counts, certification rates, offered-wage ranges, and prevailing-wage levels — are computed from the government's own numbers, not hand-typed and not estimated by us.

This is a data-publishing model: the same templates render thousands of pages so that every sponsoring employer, occupation, and area is covered consistently. We are transparent that these data pages are produced programmatically from the source datasets rather than written one at a time. The editorial work goes into the pipeline — how data is sourced, normalized, joined, and computed — into the methodology, and into the written guides; not into hand-authoring thousands of near-identical employer pages, which would add no accuracy and invite inconsistency.

Sourcing Standards

  • Primary sources only. Program figures come from the DOL's published OFLC LCA disclosure files (and USCIS / DOS schedules where shown), as documented in our methodology.
  • Attribution in context. Each data page names its dataset and fiscal-year vintage near the figures, and links to the methodology that explains how the DOL certifies LCAs and sets prevailing-wage levels.
  • Derived values are labeled. Numbers we compute ourselves — percentile rankings, certification rates, wage-level distributions — are presented as our analysis of DOL data, distinct from the DOL's published filings.
  • Sample-size floors. Wage leaderboards apply a minimum-petition floor so a one- or two-filing niche role cannot top a list on a single high salary.
  • No invented data. Where a value is unavailable for an employer or area, the page says so rather than filling the gap with an estimate.

What the Data Does — and Does Not — Show

An LCA is the first step in H-1B sponsorship, not a confirmed hire. A certified LCA means the employer's prevailing-wage and working-conditions attestations passed the Labor Department's review; it does not mean a worker was selected in the H-1B lottery, that USCIS approved the petition, or that anyone was ultimately employed. Filing dates do not correspond to employment start dates, and amendments or withdrawals can cause displayed records to diverge from final adjudications. We frame every figure accordingly.

Update Cadence

The DOL publishes new LCA disclosure data quarterly, typically within two to three months of the quarter's end. When a new release lands we refresh our database and recompute derived metrics, generally within about 30 days. Between releases the figures are stable because the source itself does not change. The fiscal-year coverage is shown on every data page.

Corrections Process

If a figure on PlainVisa looks wrong, please tell us. Because our pages are generated from the DOL's datasets, a genuine error almost always traces back to either the source data or our processing of it — so this is how we handle a report:

  1. Report. Email corrections@plainvisa.com or use the contact page with the page URL and the number that looks off.
  2. Verify. We compare the figure against the DOL's published disclosure data for that employer, occupation, area, and fiscal year.
  3. Fix at the source. If the value is wrong on our side, we correct it in the database and pipeline that generate the page — not just on the single page — so every affected page is fixed at once. If the figure faithfully reflects the DOL's published data, we explain that and, where useful, add context.
  4. Note it. Material corrections that change a published figure are reflected the next time the page rebuilds, with the data reference year shown so you can see which release a page is based on.

We aim to acknowledge data-error reports within a few business days.

Editorial Independence

PlainVisa is published by Kiznis Studio, an independent data-publishing studio, and is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Labor, USCIS, the Department of State, or any employer we cover. We do not accept payment, sponsorship, or promoted placement from petitioners, employers, immigration firms, or any covered entity. Our only revenue is contextual display advertising served by Google AdSense; advertisers do not influence which employers or areas we cover or how we present data. Our rankings are computed mechanically from DOL figures, so no employer can pay to move up a list.

Appropriate Use

PlainVisa is for informational purposes only and does not constitute immigration, legal, financial, or career advice. LCA disclosure data reflects employer intent to sponsor and DOL certification, not confirmed employment, petition approval, or any individual's eligibility. Immigration rules, prevailing-wage methodology, and the H-1B cap change over time and depend on current federal regulation. For decisions about a visa, petition, or job offer, consult a licensed immigration attorney or qualified professional. See our full appropriate-use disclaimer.