Overview
- The Department of Labor announced it will not accept new or process pending PERM (permanent labor certification) applications for Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL and Capgemini, a step taken Thursday that effectively halts those companies’ employer‑sponsored green‑card pipelines.
- PERM is the first employer step toward many employment‑based green cards and requires firms to show no qualified U.S. worker is available, so the suspension blocks that route while leaving existing H‑1B visas and already granted green cards in place.
- Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary Keith Sonderling said the move follows a fraud task‑force review that found companies used H‑1B/PERM to replace U.S. workers and depress wages, while Microsoft publicly disputed those findings and said about 80% of its recent H‑1B filings were extensions or status changes for current employees.
- The Labor Department’s action came alongside inspector‑general probes and subpoenas of nine universities over alleged misuse of J‑1 exchange visas, expanding enforcement from firms to academic institutions.
- The suspensions leave thousands of sponsored employees in limbo and could slow the tech talent pipeline; companies can contest the decisions in court or supply rebuttal evidence, and observers will watch for a DOL roadmap for restoring access and for legal challenges that will determine how long the bans last.