US Halts PERM Green Card Processing for TCS, Infosys, Microsoft and Five Others

The US Department of Labor on October 8, 2026, barred eight technology companies from its Permanent Labor Certification program, known as PERM. The PERM suspension covers Microsoft, Adobe, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro, HCLTech, Cognizant and Capgemini. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said the department will not accept new applications or process pending ones involving these firms.

The administration tied the move to alleged abuse of employment-based immigration rules and harm to American workers. Some of the companies have disputed that framing or said the impact on them will be small.

What is PERM, and what does the PERM suspension change?

PERM is usually the first step toward an employer-sponsored green card. Under the Department of Labor’s program rules, an employer must show there are not enough qualified US workers for the role. It must also show the hire will not hurt local wages or working conditions. Only then can it file an immigrant petition with USCIS.

The PERM suspension does not cancel any existing H-1B visa. What it does is stop the green card process at its starting point for employees of these eight firms.

How the companies responded

Microsoft took the sharpest criticism. Vice President JD Vance accused the company of relying on foreign hires while cutting US jobs. Microsoft said in a statement that about 80% of its roughly 6,000 H-1B filings last fiscal year were extensions or status changes for existing staff, Channel Insider reported. The company also said it pays H-1B employees the same as peers in comparable roles.

TCS said its PERM applications were in single digits over the past two years. It does not expect the suspension to affect its workforce strategy or client work.

Immigration lawyers have questioned whether the Labor Department has the legal authority to suspend companies this way. That makes a court challenge a real possibility.

Who feels it first?

The most immediate risk sits with individual employees, many of them Indian professionals. H-1B status normally runs for six years. Workers often rely on a pending green card case to extend past that limit, and those near it may now need to change employers or find another status.

Indian IT firms have long ranked among the largest H-1B users, according to USCIS data cited by Reuters. A frozen green card pipeline makes long US assignments harder to plan for both the companies and their staff.

What IT and Procurement Leaders Should Watch

For enterprises that buy services from these firms, the effect will be slower but real. A Bloomberg Intelligence analyst has said the curbs could push vendors toward more local hiring and more offshore delivery, with added costs that may eventually reach clients.

If you rely on US-based teams from any of these vendors, ask now about continuity for key roles, especially people whose status depends on a pending green card. Contract renewals are a natural moment to settle who carries the cost if work moves offshore. Also watch whether the suspension holds up in court and whether more companies are added.

Some vendors may lean harder on automated delivery to reduce their dependence on onsite staff, a direction we explored in Agentic AI Trends 2026. For more on policy shifts affecting technology businesses, see our latest News coverage.