Singapore – The US administration has suspended eight technology companies from the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) process, a key step towards employer-sponsored green cards, The Times of India reported.
The Department of Labor said it will neither accept new PERM applications involving the companies nor process their pending ones.
Announced on 8 October 2026, the suspension covers Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, HCL Technologies, and Capgemini.
The Times of India reported that the move could leave thousands of foreign professionals, including Indian IT workers, facing uncertainty over their long-term future in the US.
The administration cited alleged abuse of employment-based immigration programmes and the need to protect American workers. It described the action as part of its effort to prevent immigration fraud.
The decision does not automatically cancel existing green cards or terminate employees’ H-1B visas. Instead, its immediate effect is on PERM, a process administered by the Department of Labor that employers generally complete before sponsoring a foreign worker for many employment-based green cards.
Under PERM, an employer must show that there are not enough qualified, willing and available American workers for a position. It must also show that hiring a foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed US workers.
US Vice President JD Vance named Microsoft specifically, alleging that the company laid off 6,000 American workers in 2025 while obtaining H-1B approvals and pursuing green cards for foreign employees.
Microsoft responded that around 80% of its H-1B applications in the last fiscal year were for extensions or changes in the status of existing employees, rather than new hires.
Adobe was named alongside Microsoft, with US officials saying both companies were being suspended amid multiple active federal investigations.
Cognizant, meanwhile, had already faced a suspension of its US green card filings in September amid a probe into possible employment-visa fraud.
Reuters reported that TCS declined to comment following the announcement. Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini are also covered, with their new and pending PERM applications included in the action.
The duration of the suspension remains unclear. Vance said it would last “as long as it needs to”, and reports did not give a date for when processing might resume.
It is reported that existing Labor Department regulations allow an initial suspension of up to 180 days in specified circumstances, with continuation possible under certain conditions.
The affected companies could challenge the decision in federal court, although it is uncertain whether they will do so.
In explaining the scale of foreign-worker sponsorship by the firms, US Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said they had collectively sought almost three million foreign workers since 2009. He added that they had received more than 230,000 H-1B visa approvals and obtained more than 100,000 permanent labour certifications.
It is noted that these figures measure applications, approvals, and certifications, and do not by themselves establish that an equivalent number of American workers lost jobs.
It also reported that industry veterans disputed the inference that the figures showed hundreds of thousands of jobs had been taken from Americans.
For employees, the effect will depend on how far their cases have progressed. According to the report, workers whose employers have pending PERM applications, or have not yet filed, face the most immediate uncertainty.
By contrast, previously approved PERM certifications are not automatically invalidated, and the permanent residency of existing green card holders is not automatically cancelled. Even so, the next steps for those with approvals will depend on the stage of their cases.
Some workers may be able to pursue permanent residence through another employer that is not subject to the suspension. However, an existing green card application does not automatically transfer to a new employer.
Workers nearing the standard six-year H-1B limit may face additional complications. Some employees qualify for extensions beyond six years based on the progress of their green card process, and delays could affect that eligibility.
The action comes amid wider changes to skilled-worker immigration rules. Reuters reported that the administration had previously imposed a one-time $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions for workers hired from abroad, while the Associated Press has reported additional scrutiny of visa programmes used by international students and foreign workers.
Other large technology employers were not named in this action. Reuters reported that Amazon, Meta and Alphabet’s Google were not on the list, although that does not exempt them from wider US immigration rules or investigations.
Amazon was reported to be the largest employer of approved H-1B beneficiaries in fiscal 2026, followed by TCS, Infosys, Apple and Microsoft.
The suspension does not mean every employee at the eight companies has lost a visa or green card. According to The Times of India, it does interrupt a route to permanent residence for affected employer-sponsored cases.
Further clarity will depend on the length of the suspension, any legal challenges and the stage of each worker’s immigration case.
