US suspends Infosys, TCS and Microsoft from green card labour programme

MUMBAI: The American dream is facing a fresh paperwork hurdle, and some of India’s biggest IT employers are caught in the crossfire. The US government has suspended several major technology companies, including Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro and HCL Technologies, from the Permanent Labour Certification (PERM) programme as President Donald Trump’s administration steps up its scrutiny of foreign-worker hiring and alleged visa-related abuses.

The action, announced by US Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling on Thursday, 8 October, also covers Cognizant, Capgemini, Microsoft and Adobe. The US Department of Labour has stopped accepting new applications and halted the processing of pending PERM applications involving the named companies, according to Reuters. The move could complicate the employment-based green card process for foreign workers sponsored by these employers, although the suspension does not, by itself, amount to a blanket cancellation of existing visas or permanent residency.

PERM is a key stage in the US employment-based immigration system. It generally requires an employer to demonstrate that there are no sufficiently qualified, available US workers for the position and that hiring a foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed American workers. The labour certification is typically required before an employer can proceed with certain employment-based green card petitions.

For Indian IT services companies, which rely on global delivery models and deploy skilled professionals across international markets, the action introduces another layer of uncertainty around workforce mobility. It also puts the spotlight on how American authorities assess recruitment practices, wage structures and the balance between domestic hiring and overseas talent.

The administration has defended its approach as an effort to protect American workers and prevent employers from using immigration programmes to fill positions with lower-paid foreign labour. Vice-President JD Vance has been particularly critical of technology companies that have reduced their US workforces while continuing to seek approvals for foreign professionals.

Microsoft has emerged as a prominent target in the dispute. Vance alleged that the company laid off 6,000 American employees last year while receiving approvals for 6,300 H-1B visas and nearly 3,000 green cards. He said the administration’s investigation into the technology company had prompted its suspension from the PERM programme.

Microsoft, however, has challenged the interpretation of its visa applications. The company said around 80 per cent of the H-1B applications it submitted in the previous fiscal year were intended to extend or change the status of existing employees, rather than bring in new recruits. It also maintained that employees working on H-1B visas receive the same pay as other workers performing comparable roles.

The distinction matters because H-1B approvals can cover existing employees seeking to continue their employment in the US, rather than only newly hired workers entering the country. Consequently, the number of approvals alone does not necessarily indicate how many additional foreign workers a company has recruited during a particular period.

Microsoft has also been restructuring its workforce. In July, it announced plans to eliminate 4,800 jobs, equivalent to around 2.1 per cent of its global workforce. The cuts have added to questions about how large technology companies manage domestic employment while continuing to recruit and retain specialised talent from overseas.

The implications extend well beyond Microsoft. Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Cognizant are among the Indian IT services companies named in the action, alongside French technology services group Capgemini and US technology companies Adobe and Microsoft.

According to Sonderling, the companies collectively sought nearly three million foreign workers since 2009. Their applications resulted in more than 230,000 H-1B visa approvals and over 100,000 permanent labour certifications, he said. The figures cover the companies collectively and do not represent the individual totals of any one employer.

The scale of those numbers underscores the importance of employment-based immigration to the technology industry. Large IT services providers often need to move professionals across markets to support client projects, implement enterprise systems and provide specialised technical services. Restrictions affecting permanent labour certification could therefore complicate longer-term staffing plans for workers seeking green cards through employer sponsorship.

The action also comes as Indian technology companies navigate a changing US immigration environment. American immigration data for fiscal 2026 identified Amazon as the largest employer of approved H-1B beneficiaries, followed by TCS, Infosys, Apple and Microsoft. The rankings highlight the significant role played by both Indian outsourcing companies and US technology giants in the skilled-worker visa system.

However, the PERM suspension and H-1B visa approvals relate to different stages of the immigration process. H-1B status allows eligible foreign professionals to work temporarily in specialised occupations, while PERM is a labour certification process associated with certain routes to permanent residency. A restriction on PERM processing can affect a worker’s green card pathway without automatically ending their existing permission to work in the country.

For companies with large Indian workforces, the distinction is particularly important. Employees already working in the US may face different consequences depending on their visa status, the stage of their green card application and whether their cases fall within the scope of the government’s action. The suspension does not, on the information available, establish that every employee of the named companies is affected in the same way.

The latest development follows other measures introduced by the Trump administration to tighten employment-based immigration controls. In September 2025, the US Department of Labour launched Project Firewall, an enforcement initiative aimed at addressing alleged abuse of the H-1B programme and strengthening compliance with rules intended to protect American workers.

A separate presidential proclamation introduced a one-time fee of $100,000 on new H-1B petitions for workers hired from abroad. The measure added another potential cost for employers seeking to bring overseas talent into the US, intensifying the debate over the affordability and accessibility of skilled-worker recruitment.

Taken together, the measures signal greater scrutiny of how employers use immigration programmes and demonstrate that the administration’s approach extends beyond individual visa applications. Companies may face closer examination of recruitment procedures, employment conditions and their efforts to establish whether qualified domestic workers are available for advertised positions.

The central issue is not simply how many foreign professionals a company employs, but whether its hiring practices comply with US labour and immigration requirements. For Indian IT firms, that could mean additional legal reviews, more documentation and uncertainty over the timelines for employees pursuing permanent residency.

The crackdown is not confined to corporate America. The Trump administration has also opened investigations into nine universities over alleged misuse of exchange-visitor visas and possible harm to American workers, according to the report.

The institutions named include Harvard University, Yale University, Stanford University, Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Labour Department Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito said subpoenas had already been issued as part of the investigations.

Investigators will examine whether foreign influence, inappropriate financial relationships or visa-related violations have affected federally funded research, D’Esposito said. The allegations remain subject to investigation and should not be treated as established findings of wrongdoing by the institutions involved.

The university probes add another dimension to the administration’s wider scrutiny of international talent. Universities rely on overseas students, researchers and academic professionals, while technology companies depend on global talent pools to fill specialised positions. Any changes to visa compliance requirements can therefore have consequences extending beyond immigration paperwork to research, recruitment and workforce planning.

Harvard has previously been subpoenaed by the Department of Homeland Security over alleged misconduct involving international students and its compliance with immigration law. The latest investigations deepen the administration’s disputes with higher education institutions over immigration and oversight.

Vance has said the restrictions will remain in place for as long as necessary as the government seeks changes to corporate recruitment practices. The administration’s stated objective is to ensure that employers prioritise American workers and comply with existing labour protections.

For Indian IT companies, the immediate concern is the uncertainty surrounding pending and future PERM applications, particularly for employees who have been working in the US while pursuing permanent residency. The longer-term impact will depend on the scope and duration of the suspensions, the handling of individual cases and any subsequent changes to the administration’s enforcement policy.

The latest move places the relationship between global technology employers and US immigration authorities under renewed pressure. With major Indian IT services companies among those affected, the consequences could reach beyond Silicon Valley and Washington to the workforce planning and overseas mobility strategies of businesses operating across both countries.