US suspends work visa program for Indian IT firms, Microsoft citing widespread abuse

Indian IT firms, including TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCLTech, are among the tech firms suspended from the Permanent Labor Certification Program.

The Trump administration has decided to suspend an immigration program for multiple Indian IT firms, as well as Microsoft Corp., alleging widespread abuse of a worker visa system.

“There has been no company in the United States, unfortunately, that has abused this system more than Microsoft,” Vice President JD Vance said Thursday during a briefing in Washington.

Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said other companies that would be suspended from the Permanent Labor Certification Program included Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., Infosys Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Wipro Ltd., HCL Technologies Ltd., and Capgemini SE. He said there were multiple active federal investigations ongoing into the matter.

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PERM allows US employers to seek labor certification to sponsor eligible foreign workers for employment-based permanent residency. The process can support green-card applications for workers, including some who entered the US on H-1B visas.

The companies named in the reports include Microsoft, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Capgemini and Adobe.

Vice President JD Vance and Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling alleged that companies made illegitimate representations when applying to sponsor foreign workers. The administration said it was concerned about abuse of the program and its effect on US workers.

The suspensions were described as indefinite. Vance said they would remain in place until the administration believed its concerns had been addressed.

The suspension could affect the named companies’ ability to advance certain green-card applications for foreign employees. The Labor Department said it would stop accepting new applications and processing pending PERM applications involving the companies.

Vance said the suspensions would be indefinite, indicating they would be in place until the administration believed its concerns were addressed. The firms named by Vance and Sonderling didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment, nor did the vice president’s office and the US Labor Department.

Shares of Cognizant were down nearly 1.4% in New York trading Thursday, while Microsoft pared earlier gains. American depositary receipts of Infosys and Wipro each fell more than 3.5%.

US Work Visa Crackdown

Silicon Valley’s reliance on foreign workers has become a major flashpoint in the debate over immigration, with the administration and allies pressing tech giants to do more to train and hire US workers. President Donald Trump has also moved to make it harder for companies to use H-1B visas to attract foreign talent, targeting a key pipeline for the industry.

“The fraud is that they’re making representations when applying for this program that are fundamentally illegitimate and therefore ultimately illegal,” Vance said.

The suspensions marked the latest move by the Trump administration to crack down on both legal and undocumented pathways to migration. The program at issue allows US employers to help sponsor foreign workers for permanent residency.

In a nearly simultaneous announcement Thursday, the administration also said it had opened investigations into foreign exchange visa holders at nine top colleges including Harvard University, Stanford University and MIT. The American Labor Department’s inspector general said the inquiries will focus on J-1 visa holders, which at universities are often international PhD candidates or visiting scholars.

Vance urged the companies to shift their policies to employ more US workers, singling out Microsoft as well as Adobe Inc.

“Stop defrauding the American worker. Stop importing an indentured servant to do a job that an American worker would happily do,” the vice president said.

Vance’s comments assailing Microsoft came just hours before Trump is set to honour the company’s chief executive officer, Satya Nadella, with a National Medal of Science award at a summit in Washington DC intended to spotlight US technology and innovation. It also comes a week after Nadella joined other tech and AI executives at a White House luncheon to discuss safeguards for artificial intelligence.

The permanent labour certification is a major retention tool for Microsoft, which has a reputation for helping employees with guest worker visas seek permanent legal status. The Redmond, Washington-based firm has long bolstered its US-based workforce with employees in the country on H-1B visas, as well as visas for intracompany transfers and recent university graduates.

While the tech industry has embraced Trump in his second term due to policies that have sought to ease their tax and regulatory burden and draw investments to build out AI infrastructure, the administration’s immigration crackdown has been a sore spot. Business groups have warned that the crackdown threatens their labor supply and could impact growth.

“Microsoft is a great American company, and we have a great relationship with them, they do a lot of important things,” Vance said. “Our message to Microsoft is not that we want to harm your company. It’s that we want your company to thrive, but we want it to thrive by employing and empowering your fellow Americans.”

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