US halts 8 tech firms from sponsoring H1B visas for permanent residency

The US government has suspended eight major technology and Indian IT firms from a key green card sponsorship program, halting permanent residency processing for thousands of foreign workers. US Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling announced the decision on Thursday, confirming that the administration will reject new applications and pause all pending cases from the listed companies.

The affected organizations include Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Cognizant, Wipro, HCL, Microsoft, Capgemini, and Adobe. The Permanent Labour Certification Program, commonly known as PERM, allows employers to sponsor H-1B visa holders for long-term US residency. Under the new restrictions, the Department of Labor will immediately stop reviewing new filings and freeze existing cases tied to these eight firms.

Vice President JD Vance defended the suspension, arguing that the visa system enables corporations to displace American employees. "If you do the math, for every worker that Microsoft laid off, they replaced that worker with one and a half foreign indentured servants," Vance told the White House. He pointed to internal company data showing that Microsoft terminated 6,000 American jobs last year while simultaneously processing 6,300 H-1B visas and nearly 3,000 green cards.

Federal regulators have long examined the visa framework for suspected wage suppression and filing irregularities. A 2020 study by the Economic Policy Institute revealed that 60 per cent of certified H-1B roles paid below the standard wage for their positions. The current action builds on Project Firewall, an enforcement drive launched last September that introduced a $100,000 fee on new visa petitions. Officials also froze Cognizant's submissions last month while investigating claims of fraud and human trafficking.

Market analysts warn that the restrictions will force technology companies to hire more domestic staff and independent contractors, which will raise operating costs and shrink profit margins. Indian technology trade group Nasscom pushed back against those predictions, noting that member firms have already scaled back their reliance on foreign visas. TCS added that it expects no operational disruption, pointing out that the company filed single-digit PERM applications over the past two years.

The suspension represents the latest step in President Donald Trump's broader campaign to limit talent-based immigration and shrink the foreign-born workforce in the United States. Industry observers note that the crackdown targets specific employers rather than establishing a blanket ban on all foreign nationals or technology sectors.