The US Department of Labor has suspended participation in its Permanent Labor Certification programme for eight technology companies. The named employers are Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Cognizant, Capgemini, Microsoft and Adobe. The action covers new and pending PERM applications involving those employers, according to Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling’s statement reproduced by the official White House Rapid Response account and reporting by Reuters. [1] [2]
The development affects one important employer-sponsored route to permanent residence for some foreign workers, including Indian technology professionals. It is not a blanket suspension of every US green-card application, and it does not by itself cancel valid H-1B status. PERM is an employer labor-certification stage that generally comes before later immigration filings. [4] [5]
Key points
- The eight named companies are Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Capgemini, Microsoft and Adobe. [1] [2]
- The Labor Department says it will not accept or process new and pending PERM applications involving those companies while the action remains in place. [2]
- PERM is different from H-1B: it supports certain permanent-residence cases, while H-1B is a temporary, non-immigrant work classification. [3] [5]
- A worker whose employer has not reached the PERM filing stage may be unable to start that stage or obtain a priority date through it. [3] [5]
- TCS said its PERM applications were in the single digits over the past two years and that it did not expect a material effect on its workforce strategy or client engagements. [7]
What happened
The White House Rapid Response account posted on October 8 that Sonderling was suspending Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL and Capgemini from the Permanent Labor Certification Program. The same post said the Department of Labor was suspending Microsoft and Adobe because of multiple active federal investigations. Reuters reported that the Labor Department would halt both new and pending applications involving the companies. [1] [2]
The administration has framed the action as part of a broader effort against what it calls fraud and the displacement of US workers. Reuters reported Vice President JD Vance’s allegation that Microsoft had abused the system and said the administration wanted the affected companies to change how they hire. Those are the government’s stated rationales; the retrieved material does not establish them as adjudicated findings against every named company. [2]
The duration is open-ended. Reuters quoted Vance as saying the suspensions would last “as long as it needs to,” rather than giving a fixed end date. The official post and reporting reviewed here do not provide a complete public order setting out a case-by-case timetable, appeal route or treatment of every pending filing. [1] [2]
What PERM means for Indian IT workers
PERM, short for Program Electronic Review Management, is not a green card itself. The Department of Labor says the employer, rather than the employee, files a permanent labor-certification application. The employer must generally show that there are not enough US workers who are able, willing, qualified and available for the job, and that employing the foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed US workers. [5]
After certification, the employer can move to later immigration steps. The DOL says the date the application is received is used by USCIS and the State Department as the priority date, and a certified application should generally be submitted with Form I-140. USCIS describes separate employment-based categories and adjustment-of-status requirements. [5] [6] An employee whose employer has not yet filed PERM may be unable to begin that stage, while a worker with an approved petition waiting for visa availability may be in a different position. [3] [6]
PERM is not the same as H-1B
H-1B is a temporary, non-immigrant classification for specialty-occupation workers. PERM is a labor-certification process used by employers pursuing certain permanent-residence cases. NDTV Profit reported that the suspension itself does not cancel existing H-1B visas. That distinction matters: a pause in one employer-sponsored green-card stage is not the same as revoking a worker’s separate temporary status. [3] [4]
Indian Express reports that some H-1B holders can qualify for extensions beyond the normal six-year limit when the relevant immigrant process was started early enough or has reached a qualifying stage. Whether an extension is available depends on the worker’s filings, dates and immigration history. The suspension may therefore create more time-sensitive uncertainty for some workers approaching a status limit, but it does not automatically end H-1B status for everyone employed by a named company. [3]
The practical position is uneven. A worker with a certified PERM, an approved I-140 or an available immigrant visa is not in the same position as someone whose employer has not filed anything.
Company response and worker impact
Exposure differs among the named companies. Reuters reported that TCS said its PERM applications were in the single digits over the previous two years and that it expected no material impact on its workforce strategy or client engagements. TCS also reiterated plans to hire 15,000 additional employees in the United States over five years. [7]
That response should not be generalized. The retrieved reporting does not provide a comparable current case count for each. The suspension can delay a new filing or pause the handling of a pending one, but the practical effect depends on the employer’s case, the worker’s documents, visa availability and H-1B timing. Workers should not assume that every employee at a named company is affected in the same way.
What remains uncertain
The public evidence reviewed for this draft does not include a full DOL suspension order. That missing document could clarify the legal authority, effective date, duration, whether all pending cases are paused or handled differently, and the procedure for responding to the action. The White House post confirms the administration’s announcement, but it is not a substitute for a complete case record. [1]
It is also not yet possible to quantify how many Indian workers are affected. Reuters reported government totals since 2009, but those figures were statements by Labor officials rather than an audited count of current employees or pending cases. [2]
The action also does not resolve every later-stage case. USCIS says employment-based permanent residence can involve an approved or pending Form I-140, an immediately available immigrant visa and Form I-485 adjustment of status, depending on the applicant’s circumstances. A PERM suspension should therefore not be described as cancellation of all green cards. [6]
What happens next
The next useful developments would be a complete Labor Department order, clarifying guidance from affected employers and any court or administrative challenge. Fresh company statements may show whether sponsorship policies change. A future update should check the State Department’s current Visa Bulletin before citing any backlog date.
For now, the most accurate description is a company-specific suspension of new and pending PERM labor-certification applications, announced on October 8, amid an administration investigation and enforcement campaign. It is a significant obstacle for some employer-sponsored green-card cases, particularly those that have not reached PERM, but it is not evidence that all green cards or H-1B visas for Indian IT workers have been cancelled. [2] [3] [4]
