Overview
- The Labor Department on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, announced it will not accept new or process pending PERM permanent labor certification applications for Microsoft, Adobe and six large IT outsourcers while investigations proceed.
- PERM is the Labor Department step usually required before most employer‑sponsored green cards and the suspension pauses a frequent pathway H‑1B holders use to win permanent residency without canceling existing H‑1B status.
- The department served subpoenas and opened probes into nine universities, including Harvard, Yale and Stanford, to examine alleged misuse of J‑1 exchange visas and possible risks to federally funded research.
- Companies pushed back, with Microsoft saying most recent H‑1B filings were extensions or status changes for current employees, and administration officials warning the named firms sought large numbers of foreign workers since 2009.
- The move marks the broadest enforcement step yet in the administration's skilled‑worker crackdown and is likely to prompt litigation, agency reviews and near‑term uncertainty for workers nearing H‑1B time limits and for hiring in U.S. tech and outsourcing firms.