The United States government suspended Permanent Labor Certification Program processing for eight major technology firms on October 8, 2026, creating sudden uncertainty for thousands of H-1B visa holders and forcing companies to weigh long-term talent strategies overseas.
Federal Suspension Halts PERM Applications At Eight Major Tech Firms
Vice President JD Vance and Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling announced the action during an October 8, 2026, press conference. The Donald Trump administration has suspended processing under a key US employment-based immigration programme for select technology and IT services companies. They directed the Department of Labor to stop accepting new applications and halt pending ones under the Permanent Labor Certification Program, known as PERM.
The restrictions apply directly to eight named organizations: Indian IT majors Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro, HCLTech, and Cognizant, alongside French services firm Capgemini and US software giants Microsoft and Adobe. Administrative statements cite ongoing investigations into recruitment practices, wage suppression, and allegations that large volumes of H-1B and PERM filings occurred alongside workforce reductions, potentially impacting job opportunities for U.S. workers.
For technology professionals who rely on temporary H-1B visas to live in the United States while pursuing permanent residency, the PERM certification represents the indispensable first step. Without an active PERM application, workers cannot establish a priority date or proceed toward an employment-based green card.
Corporate Leaders Challenge Visa Restrictions
Microsoft President Brad Smith rejected allegations of visa misuse during an interview with Politico’s Decoded newsletter at the International AI Summit in Dublin, Ireland. Corporate leaders have strongly contested the administration’s rationale, arguing that restrictions on skilled foreign professionals threaten the competitiveness of the American technology sector.
We should all be worried about sending — intentionally or inadvertently or otherwise — signals that send the most talented next wave of AI [or] SI software engineers to other countries, rather than the United States.
Brad Smith, Microsoft President
Smith maintained that Microsoft files green card applications primarily to retain existing staff rather than hire new workers. He attributed the volume to lengthy backlogs in the US permanent residency system. He also noted that the company hired more than 9,000 US-born workers over the past year and maintained uniform compensation regardless of immigration status.
Meanwhile, industry trade association Nasscom emphasized that immigration and skilled talent mobility are two distinct issues
that should be evaluated separately. The association noted that Indian IT firms have reduced their dependence on H-1B visas by expanding local hiring in the United States. Data from brokerage firm HDFC Securities and public trackers indicate that the affected firms accounted for a shrinking share of total PERM filings, dropping to a small fraction of applications by 2025.
Workers Face Uncertainty Amid Regulatory Scrutiny
A senior executive at one of the affected firms spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity. The executive described how workers find themselves stuck where they have spent some years in the US but their green card application hasn’t moved.
The human toll remains acute for professionals trapped in immigration backlogs.
Vice President Vance referred to foreign professionals on H-1B visas as foreign indentured servants
during policy rollouts.
Immigration attorneys point out that while the Department of Labor suspension pauses PERM workflows, alternative pathways for permanent residency remain technically open under USCIS jurisdiction. Highly qualified professionals can pursue the EB-2 National Interest Waiver or the EB-1A category for extraordinary ability, which bypass the labor certification process entirely. Investment-based alternatives like the EB-5 category require capital thresholds that outstrip many workers’ savings, and immigration researchers note that changing employers carries professional risks.
Ahmet Gulek is a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford’s Immigration Policy Lab.
He noted that permanent residency remains the primary mechanism for talented foreign workers to remain in the country, warning that without it, some individuals will leave entirely while others will opt against arriving in the first place, even on temporary assignments.
A Congressional Budget Office analysis from July 2024 projected that recent immigration surges would generate $1.2 trillion in federal revenues across the 2024 through 2034 window, driven predominantly by income and payroll tax contributions. Citizenship and Immigration Services filings illustrate that the pipeline of advanced-degree professionals—particularly Indian applicants meeting advanced degree requirements with U.S. or foreign master’s equivalents—has historically driven specialized labor migration.