Microsoft PERM suspension: US bars tech giants from green-card route over alleged fraud
The United States has suspended Microsoft, Adobe and six of the world’s largest IT outsourcing firms from a key skilled-worker immigration programme, accusing them of fraud. The Microsoft PERM suspension, announced on Thursday, blocks the companies from filing new applications or continuing pending ones under the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) programme, a required step for most employment-based green cards.
Vice President JD Vance and Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling announced the move at a White House briefing of the government’s fraud task force. “We will not accept any new or process any pending permanent labor certification applications involving these companies,” Sonderling said.
Alongside Microsoft and Adobe, the suspension covers Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini. Vance singled out Microsoft as the worst offender, claiming it laid off 6,000 American workers last year while using 6,300 H-1B visas and nearly 3,000 green cards. “There has been no company in the United States, unfortunately, that has abused the system more than Microsoft,” he said.
What the Microsoft PERM suspension means for workers
Under PERM, an employer must first get the Labor Department to certify that no qualified American worker is available for a job. Only then can it petition US Citizenship and Immigration Services for an employment-based green card for that worker. With PERM frozen for these firms, thousands of foreign tech professionals, many of them Indian engineers but also Pakistanis on H-1B visas, face uncertainty over their path to permanent residency.
The action does not cancel existing H-1B visas, which let firms employ foreign workers temporarily. But it shuts the most common door through which those workers convert temporary status into a green card. Since 2009, the affected companies have requested almost three million foreign workers between them, according to Sonderling.
Microsoft, the largest filer of PERM applications according to disclosure-data compiler Permtrack.app, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Tata Consultancy Services declined to comment.
Universities also face investigation
Vance also announced investigations into nine universities, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Brown and MIT, over what the administration called misuse of exchange-visitor visas to undercut American wages. Labor Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito said subpoenas had already been served.
“If an American university is breaking the law to save $1 while exposing American research to a foreign adversary, that is not academic excellence. It’s institutional betrayal,” D’Esposito said.
A wider crackdown
The suspensions are the latest in a series of moves against skilled-worker immigration. In September last year, the Labor Department launched an enforcement drive called “Project Firewall”, and a White House proclamation imposed a one-time $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions for workers hired from abroad.
The timing raised eyebrows: on the same day Microsoft was accused of fraud, its chief executive Satya Nadella was due at the White House to receive the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Trump. Vance played down the clash. “Our message to Microsoft is not that we want to harm your company,” he said. “We want your company to thrive by employing and empowering your fellow Americans.”
FAQ
What is the PERM programme?
PERM, or Permanent Labor Certification, is the process through which a US employer asks the Department of Labor to certify that hiring a foreign worker will not harm American wages or job opportunities. It is a mandatory first step for most employment-based green cards.
Does this cancel H-1B visas?
No. The suspension targets PERM applications, the green-card step, not the H-1B temporary work visas themselves. But it blocks the main route H-1B holders use to gain permanent residency through these employers.
Which companies are affected?
Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini.
Why does this matter for Pakistani tech workers?
Pakistanis working in the US on H-1B visas for these firms now face a frozen green-card pipeline. Anyone whose employer had a PERM application pending will see it stall, and no new ones can be filed until the suspension is lifted.
