The United States (US) has suspended Microsoft, Adobe and several major IT outsourcers, including Indian Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro and HCL Technologies, from a key green-card program.
The move came on Thursday, alongside investigations into nine top universities, as part of a crackdown the administration says targets fraud and protects American jobs.
Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said the suspension also covers Cognizant and Capgemini. “We will not accept any new or process any pending permanent labor certification applications involving these companies,” he said.
He said the companies have sought almost three million foreign workers since 2009 and received over 230,000 H-1B visa approvals and over 100,000 permanent labor certifications.
Since taking office, President Donald Trump has pursued a broad effort to reduce the number of foreign-born people in the US and curtail their pathway to residence and citizenship.
The actions taken on Thursday mark the broadest strike yet against skilled-worker immigration programs, potentially cutting off a common route to permanent residency for foreign tech workers.
Vice President JD Vance said Microsoft had abused the system more than any other US company. He said it laid off 6,000 American workers last year while benefiting from 6,300 H-1B temporary worker visas and nearly 3,000 green cards.
He said the suspensions would last “as long as it needs to” and that the administration wants companies to change how they hire. According to Vance, some companies post ineffective job ads and then cite the lack of applicants to justify hiring lower-paid foreign workers.
Microsoft is the largest filer of PERM applications, the permanent labor certification process required for most employment-based green cards, according to US Labor Department data. Under PERM, employers must show that a foreign hire will not hurt the wages or jobs of US workers.
Microsoft said about 80 percent of its H-1B applications in the last fiscal year were to extend or change the status of current employees, not to hire new workers.
It also said it pays H-1B employees the same as other employees doing comparable work. In July, the company announced it would cut 4,800 jobs, about 2.1 percent of its global workforce.
The comments of Vance came hours before Trump honored several tech billionaires, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Nadella once held an H-1B visa, as did Elon Musk, who was also honored, while three of the other CEOs honored are immigrants.
Nadella thanked The US president for the medal in a post on X, saying he would continue to advance technology and drive American prosperity.
Nasscom, Indian IT industry body, said Indian tech companies in the US have significantly reduced their reliance on H-1B visas and that relatively few of their workers seek green cards through the PERM process.
Amazon.com was the largest employer of approved H-1B beneficiaries in fiscal 2026, followed by TCS, Infosys, Apple and Microsoft, according to US immigration data.
Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Wipro and Capgemini did not immediately respond to requests for comment. TCS declined to comment.
In September last year, the Labor Department launched an enforcement drive called “Project Firewall,” while a White House proclamation imposed a one-time $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions for workers hired from abroad.
