U.S. suspends Microsoft, Adobe from green card labor program in foreign worker crackdown

What does it mean for Microsoft and Adobe to be suspended from the Permanent Labor Certification program?

The Permanent Labor Certification program is the route employers use to seek certification that hiring a foreign worker will not improperly harm U.S. workers. Suspension means the Labor Department will not accept or process new applications from Microsoft or Adobe under that program. This matters because certification is commonly needed before an employer pursues some employment-based permanent residence cases.

The immediate effect is a government processing freeze for new applications from the suspended companies. It does not mean every foreign worker loses status or that every immigration program is closed to them. The announcement specifically concerns new applications under this labor-certification program.

The Labor Department cited multiple active federal investigations involving Microsoft and Adobe. The companies were also named amid a broader effort targeting foreign hiring programs. Microsoft remains a major H-1B sponsor, with 21,706 petitions listed for 2026, but the suspension limits its ability to start new permanent-labor-certification applications.

Which companies are affected, and what kinds of new applications will the Labor Department stop accepting or processing?

The affected companies named by Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling are Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Capgemini, Tata, Wipro, and HCL. They span major technology companies and large information-technology services firms. The action matters because it targets the employer route used to seek permanent labor certifications for foreign workers.

The Labor Department said it would not accept or process any new applications under the Permanent Labor Certification program from these companies. The announcement does not identify separate categories of applications within that program. It also does not say that every visa filing by these companies, including H-1B filings, has been stopped.

The move comes as the administration focuses on immigration and foreign hiring ahead of November’s midterm elections. Microsoft and Adobe face an additional stated reason: Sonderling said they were suspended because of multiple active federal investigations. The companies listed have sought large numbers of foreign-worker approvals since 2009.

How many foreign workers and immigration approvals have the named companies sought or received since 2009?

Since 2009, the companies named in the announcement requested almost 3 million foreign workers, according to Sonderling. That figure describes requests, not necessarily workers ultimately hired. It shows the enormous scale of employer demand behind the administration’s scrutiny of foreign hiring programs.

The same companies received more than 230,000 H-1B visa approvals and over 100,000 permanent labor certifications. H-1B approvals generally support temporary employment in qualifying roles, while permanent labor certification supports an employer’s effort to pursue permanent residence for a worker. These are different immigration steps and should not be added together as unique people.

Sonderling characterized the numbers as hundreds of thousands of jobs taken from American workers. Microsoft disputes that broader framing, saying most U.S. employees are Americans and that 80% of its roughly 6,000 H-1B applications last fiscal year extended or changed existing employees’ status.

How is an H-1B visa different from a permanent labor certification and a green card?

An H-1B visa lets a foreign professional work temporarily for a U.S. employer in a qualifying specialty occupation. It does not itself provide permanent residence. The employer typically petitions for the worker, and the worker remains in a temporary immigration category.

A permanent labor certification is different. In general, it is Labor Department approval showing that an employer followed required labor-market rules before seeking permanent residence for a foreign worker. It is not a visa or a green card. After certification, the employer usually pursues an employment-based immigrant petition and the worker applies for permanent residence.

A green card is the document and status showing lawful permanent residence. The article gives the H-1B and certification figures but does not explain every legal step. The practical distinction is clear: H-1B supports temporary work, labor certification supports a permanent-residence case, and a green card grants permanent resident status.

What happens to a company’s ability to sponsor foreign workers for permanent residence while it is suspended?

A company’s suspension removes its access to the normal filing channel for new Permanent Labor Certification applications. The Labor Department said it would not accept or process those applications from the affected companies. This matters because labor certification is an important early step in many employer-sponsored permanent-residence cases.

The practical mechanism is a pause at the Labor Department. If a company cannot file a new application, it cannot obtain a new certification through that program while the suspension remains in place. The announcement does not say that a worker’s existing H-1B status ends, or that every immigration filing by the employer becomes impossible.

For Microsoft and Adobe, the suspension therefore narrows their options for starting new permanent-residence sponsorship cases. The article does not provide an end date or explain how the companies could regain access. It says Adobe was contacted for comment and reports Microsoft’s separate defense of its hiring practices.

Why did the Labor Department suspend Microsoft and Adobe specifically, and how does Microsoft dispute the claim that it replaced American workers with H-1B employees?

The Labor Department gave a specific reason for suspending Microsoft and Adobe: Sonderling said both companies had multiple active federal investigations. Microsoft was also singled out publicly by Vice President JD Vance, who connected the company’s 6,000 layoffs in 2025 to H-1B hiring. Vance claimed the laid-off workers were replaced by H-1B employees.

Microsoft disputes that description. The company said the vast majority of its U.S. employees are Americans. It also said that, among approximately 6,000 H-1B applications submitted in the last fiscal year, 80% were filed to extend or change the status of existing Microsoft employees.

That response does not provide a full account of the layoffs, but it challenges the idea that the applications represented wholesale replacement hiring. Microsoft also said its H-1B workers’ wages were among the highest in the filings. The article reports no final finding from the investigations.

How does the U.S. employer-sponsored immigration system balance companies’ need for specialized workers with the goal of protecting domestic workers’ wages and job opportunities?

The system balances two goals. Employers can use H-1B visas to hire specialized foreign workers when they need particular skills. At the same time, labor-certification rules generally require employers to show that hiring a foreign worker will not improperly displace qualified U.S. workers or depress wages. The article does not detail every safeguard, so this broader explanation relies on established immigration-system rules.

The mechanisms operate at different stages. H-1B petitions support temporary employment, while permanent labor certification adds a labor-market review before an employer pursues permanent residence. Wage requirements and employer attestations are designed to protect domestic workers. The Labor Department can also investigate employers and, as this case shows, stop accepting new applications from named companies.

The dispute illustrates the tension. Officials point to large foreign-worker totals and layoffs, while Microsoft points to its mostly American workforce, high wages, and applications mainly involving existing employees. The outcome may shape how companies use both temporary visas and permanent-residence sponsorship.

Key Facts:

📌 New applications from Microsoft and Adobe will not be accepted or processed.

📌 The suspension concerns the Permanent Labor Certification program.

📌 The Labor Department cited multiple active federal investigations.

📌 The named companies include Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Capgemini, Tata, Wipro, and HCL.

📌 New applications under the Permanent Labor Certification program will not be processed.

📌 The action does not state that all visa filings are suspended.

📌 The companies requested almost 3 million foreign workers since 2009.