US Suspends Green Card Filings By Indian IT Firms: What It Means For H-1B Workers

The United States has suspended several major Indian IT companies from the Permanent Labour Certification (PERM) programme, a key step in sponsoring foreign employees for employment-based Green Cards. The companies named include Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini.

Microsoft and Adobe have also been suspended amid federal investigations, in a widening crackdown on employment-based immigration under President Donald Trump.

US Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling announced the action on October 8, accusing the affected companies of misusing immigration programmes and displacing American workers. Vice-President JD Vance also criticised companies that he alleged had replaced US employees with foreign workers.

The allegations form part of an ongoing government crackdown and do not, by themselves, establish that the companies have been found guilty of wrongdoing.

Why US Has Suspended IT Firms?

The Trump administration has argued that some employers have relied on foreign workers at the expense of American employees, including through alleged wage undercutting and misuse of visa programmes. Sonderling said the companies named had received more than 230,000 H-1B visa approvals and over 100,000 permanent labour certifications since 2009. These figures were cited by US officials as part of their case for the crackdown.

PERM, or Program Electronic Review Management, is administered by the US Department of Labour. Employers generally need labour certification before proceeding with sponsorship for an employment-based Green Card. The process requires employers to undertake recruitment and demonstrate that hiring a foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed US workers.

The PERM process is distinct from the H-1B visa, which allows employers to hire foreign professionals temporarily in specialised occupations. Suspending PERM filings does not automatically cancel an employee’s existing H-1B status or an already-issued Green Card.

However, the affected companies cannot submit new applications or have pending PERM applications processed while the suspension remains in force, according to reports on the announcement.

How Will It Affect Indian Workers?

The suspension could delay the Green Card process for employees whose employers have not yet completed the PERM stage. The labour certification filing date generally establishes a worker’s priority date, which determines their place in the queue for an immigrant visa.

A delay at this stage could be particularly consequential for Indian nationals, who already face substantial backlogs in employment-based immigration categories.

The impact could also extend to some H-1B workers approaching the usual six-year limit on their stay. Certain workers can qualify for extensions beyond that limit if they meet specific Green Card process-related conditions.

Employees’ circumstances will differ depending on the stage of their applications, and the suspension does not mean that every worker employed by the affected companies will lose their ability to work in the US.