US Suspends Eight Major IT Companies from Green Card Programme, Including Infosys and TCS

The United States has suspended eight major technology companies, including Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro and Cognizant, from its Permanent Labour Certification Programme, a key step in the employment-based green card process.
 

The US government alleged that the programme had affected employment opportunities for American citizens. The companies covered by the action are Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, Capgemini, Microsoft and Adobe.
 

US Labour Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s representative, according to the report, said the department was suspending major information technology companies from the programme. Microsoft and Adobe were also suspended because of several active federal investigations.
 

US Vice President JD Vance alleged that Microsoft had been among the companies that had most seriously misused the system. He said the company laid off 6,000 American employees in 2025, citing an inability to find qualified US workers.
 

Despite those layoffs, Microsoft reportedly received approval for more than 6,000 H-1B visas and filed 3,682 applications under the permanent labour certification programme. Around 1,000 of those applications were reportedly for positions previously held by American employees who had been laid off.
 

No New or Pending PERM Applications to Be Processed
 

The US Labour Department said it would not accept new permanent labour certification applications from the suspended companies. Applications already pending would also not be processed further.
 

According to the department’s figures cited in the report, the companies had collectively sought certification for around three million foreign workers since 2009. They had received more than 230,000 H-1B visa approvals and over 100,000 permanent labour certifications.
 

The department alleged that the use of these programmes had affected hundreds of thousands of job opportunities for American workers.
 

Indian Professionals Account for More Than 70% of H-1B Approvals
 

Indian professionals account for more than 70 per cent of H-1B visa applications approved each year, according to the report. The US action has therefore drawn attention to the potential implications for technology companies that rely on skilled workers from overseas.
 

H-1B visas allow US employers to hire eligible foreign workers in specialised occupations. Permanent labour certification is a separate process that generally forms part of an employer-sponsored application for employment-based permanent residency.
 

US Announces Review of J-1 Visa Programme
 

Vance also announced a review of the J-1 visa programme, which universities use to bring international researchers and other exchange visitors to the United States. The review will cover nine prominent universities, including Yale, Harvard, Stanford and Caltech.
 

Vance alleged that some universities were making excessive use of these visas to reduce salary costs for American graduate students and researchers. He criticised the use of the programme by institutions employing foreign researchers.
 

The J-1 programme allows eligible foreign nationals to enter the United States as exchange visitors for activities including research, teaching, study and certain specialised professional assignments.
 

The suspension of the eight technology companies, alongside the announced scrutiny of the J-1 programme, marks an expansion of the US government’s examination of programmes used to recruit foreign workers.