US Freezes Green Card Applications for Microsoft, Adobe and Six IT Firms Over Visa Abuse Claims

The US Department of Labor has halted all new and pending permanent residency sponsorships from Microsoft, Adobe, and six of the world's largest IT outsourcing firms. The indefinite freeze severs the primary pathway to green cards for thousands of foreign-born tech workers currently employed in the United States.[2][4]

The suspension targets the Permanent Labor Certification Program, known across the industry as PERM. Under federal immigration law, employers must use this system to prove that no qualified American workers are available before sponsoring a foreign national for permanent residency.[2][3]

Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling announced Thursday that the agency will no longer accept or process any PERM applications involving the named companies. Sonderling cited "multiple active federal investigations" into their hiring practices, though he did not detail the specific statutory violations under review.[3][5]

The block affects a massive volume of corporate immigration processing. Since 2009, the eight suspended companies have collectively requested nearly three million foreign workers, securing more than 230,000 H-1B visas and 100,000 permanent labor certifications.[3]

In the first three quarters of the current fiscal year alone, Microsoft filed 1,504 certified PERM applications—the highest volume of any US employer. Adobe filed 168 applications during the same nine-month window, according to federal labor data.[2]

Alongside the two software giants, the Labor Department suspended six major global IT services firms: Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies, and Capgemini. These firms provide contract engineering and infrastructure support to thousands of domestic corporations.[3][5]

The inclusion of the six outsourcing firms disrupts a massive contractor supply chain across the technology sector. These companies heavily utilize H-1B visas to staff specialized engineering projects for Fortune 500 corporations, making them frequent targets of federal labor scrutiny.[5]

The Administration's Fraud Allegations

Vice President JD Vance directed the administration's sharpest criticism at Microsoft during a Thursday White House press conference. He accused the Redmond-based technology giant of exploiting the visa system to undercut domestic wages and replace American staff.[1][3]

Vance claimed that Microsoft laid off 6,000 American workers last year while simultaneously securing 6,300 H-1B temporary visas and nearly 3,000 green cards. He argued this data demonstrates a clear pattern of prioritizing foreign labor over domestic candidates.[1][3]

"If you do the math, for every worker that Microsoft laid off, they replaced that worker with one and a half foreign indentured servants," Vance said. He stated that the administration would deny permanent residency applications until the company prioritizes American workers.[1][2]

The vice president alleged that technology companies routinely manipulate the PERM requirement's mandatory labor market test. To clear a PERM application, an employer must advertise the open position and legally prove no domestic applicant was qualified to fill the role.[2]

Vance claimed firms intentionally design ineffective job advertisements to ensure a predictable lack of local applicants. He argued that companies use this engineered lack of response to justify hiring foreign labor, bypassing the program's core domestic protection mandate.[1][2]

Microsoft Defends Hiring Record

Microsoft forcefully rejected the administration's characterization of its hiring data and labor practices. In a statement released Thursday, the company clarified that 80 percent of the approximately 6,000 H-1B applications it submitted in the last fiscal year were to extend or change the status of existing employees.[2][5]

"The remaining filings for new employees were for individuals already legally in the United States who decided to come work for us, and they equal only 1% of our U.S. workforce," Microsoft stated. The company emphasized that these workers were not new arrivals to the country.[2][5]

Microsoft also disputed the wage-undercutting allegations, stating that it pays its H-1B employees the exact same compensation as any other staff doing comparable work. The company noted that its wages remain among the highest of all H-1B filings nationwide.[1]

Adobe and the six IT outsourcing firms have not yet issued public comments regarding their suspensions. The enforcement action notably arrived just over a week after Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella attended a White House artificial intelligence luncheon alongside Vance.[2]

Visa Timelines and Worker Limbo

The freeze leaves thousands of sponsored workers and corporate hiring plans in immediate legal limbo. While the Labor Department's action does not cancel existing H-1B temporary visas, it blocks the necessary transition to permanent residency.[2][4]

H-1B visas carry a strict maximum duration of six years for foreign workers. However, if an employer files a PERM application before the worker's fifth year, the visa can be extended indefinitely while the employee waits in the green card backlog.[1][2]

By halting the PERM process, the government effectively starts a countdown clock for affected tech workers. Employees who cannot secure a PERM certification before their six-year limit expires will be forced to leave the United States, regardless of their tenure at the company.[1][4]

The Labor Department's regulations permit an initial PERM suspension while federal investigations remain active. The administration has not specified what operational changes the suspended companies must make to restore their certification privileges or when the freeze might be lifted.[3][5]

The enforcement action represents one of the most aggressive federal crackdowns on the skilled-worker immigration pipeline in recent history. Industry analysts warn the suspension could severely disrupt long-term engineering projects and force companies to relocate specialized roles outside the United States.[4]