The US government has taken serious steps against several large IT companies, including Indian enterprises. The US Department of Labor has suspended the PERM permanent labor certification program related to obtaining green cards.
Companies included in this measure are Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini. Additionally, the program was suspended for Microsoft and Adobe. American officials have accused these corporations of abusing the green card program.
The permanent employment program plays a key role in the process of obtaining a green card based on permanent employment in the US. After receiving approval from the US Department of Labor, any company can sponsor a foreign employee for a green card. The company must declare that no suitable American candidate was found for the position, which simplifies the process of obtaining a green card for the foreigner.
US Secretary of Labor, Kia Sonderling, informed about the measures taken, noting allegations of misuse of the PERM system by these large companies. Sonderling expressed the harshest criticism towards Microsoft, stating that this company used the system more extensively than any other.
US Vice President J. Di Vance leveled serious accusations against Microsoft. He reported that in 2025, Microsoft laid off about 6,000 American employees, despite previously claiming there were no qualified American candidates for those positions. Nevertheless, Microsoft received over 6,000 H-1B visas and filed for 3,682 green cards. Vance asserted that about a thousand of these applications concerned precisely the positions from which American workers were laid off.
Vance emphasized that the purpose of the H-1B program was to attract highly skilled specialists from abroad to positions that could not be filled by American citizens. However, he accused the system of becoming an object of large-scale fraud and violations.
The US Department of Labor also included nine universities under scrutiny. These include major educational institutions such as Harvard, Yale, and Stanford. US authorities suspect these universities of attempting to hire international students to lower the wages of American workers. Anthony Di'Esposito, head of the Office of Labor Oversight, stated that summonses have already been sent to the relevant institutions.
These actions may affect foreign employees applying for green cards through the mentioned companies in the US. This is especially true for workers whose green card application process is ongoing, as uncertainty and delays will increase for them. Nevertheless, the suspension of the program for any company does not mean the automatic cancellation of already approved green cards. The main impact may affect new or ongoing application processes.
The US government's stance is to ensure that foreign employees are not used as cheaper replacements for American workers. The goal of this entire campaign is to protect the interests of American citizens and ensure compliance with labor laws.