Overview
- The Department of Labor announced on Thursday, October 8 that it will stop accepting new PERM applications and will not process pending filings for the named companies while its task force investigates alleged misuse of employer‑sponsored green‑card rules.
- The suspension covers eight firms: Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini and applies only to the PERM labor‑certification step used to sponsor many employment‑based green cards.
- The DOL said the action responds to findings that some firms replaced U.S. workers with H‑1B hires and used PERM to secure long‑term stays, though officials have not provided a timeline or criteria for restoring access to the program.
- Microsoft and other companies strongly contested the government’s account, with Microsoft saying about 80% of its roughly 6,000 H‑1B filings last fiscal year were extensions or status changes for existing employees and that it pays comparable, high salaries.
- The administration also opened probes into nine elite universities over J‑1 exchange visa use and the moves form part of a broader tightening of skilled‑worker immigration that has included high fee proposals and other enforcement steps.