US Administration Blocks Major Tech Giants from Green Card Programme

UPDATE - follow-up to Microsoft, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, Cognizant, HCL and Capgemini hit by US H-1B, green card crackdown: US Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling and Vice President JD Vance announced that eight major technology and outsourcing firms are now blocked from the Permanent Labour Certification Programme, also known as PERM.

The Suspended Firms

The companies barred from submitting new or processing pending PERM requests are Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, Capgemini, Microsoft, and Adobe.

Official Claims

Speaking at a press conference alongside the head of the US Anti-Fraud Task Force, Vance accused Microsoft of laying off American staff and replacing them with foreign workers using H-1B visas, describing the practice as a system abuse. Sonderling stated that since 2009, these specific companies requested nearly three million foreign workers, securing over 230,000 H-1B approvals and more than 100,000 permanent labour certifications.

Context

PERM is a Department of Labour procedure that employers must complete to show no qualified local workers are available before sponsoring a foreign employee for permanent residency. This action is part of a wider government push to increase hiring among American citizens.