U.S. Suspends Major Tech Firms From PERM Green‑Card Program

Overview

• The Labor Department announced Thursday that it will not accept new or process pending PERM applications for a list of large technology and IT services companies until investigators clear outstanding concerns.
• Named firms include Microsoft and Adobe along with Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini, and the companies had not immediately responded to requests for comment.
• PERM is the Department of Labor certification employers must get before filing most employment‑based green‑card requests and blocking it pauses those workers’ paths to permanent residency.
• The department’s Office of the Inspector General has delivered subpoenas and opened probes into several universities, including Harvard, Yale and Stanford, to investigate possible visa abuse, foreign influence or improper financial ties to federally funded research.
• The enforcement push creates immediate uncertainty for affected foreign employees and for companies that rely on sponsor‑based hiring and could lead to civil penalties or conditional remedies if agencies find violations.