US govt to bar Microsoft, Indian IT companies from green card programme

The US government is suspending new applications for permanent residency by several companies that employ foreign technology workers. The named companies include Microsoft, Cognizant, Infosys, TCS, and HCLTech. The decision matters because permanent residency is a route to a green card for many foreign workers in the US.

The action focuses on the PERM process. Employers use PERM to seek Labor Department certification that no qualified, willing, and available US worker can fill a specific job. The government says some companies abused this process and harmed American workers.

The article also says some companies are under active federal investigation. Officials reported that certain companies paid foreign workers about $20,000 less than comparable US workers. The suspension means the named companies cannot submit new PERM applications, limiting a major route for affected foreign workers to seek permanent resident status.

PERM stands for Program Electronic Review Management. It is a process through which an employer seeks certification from the US Department of Labor before filing petitions for most employment-based green cards. The certification concerns a specific job, not just a company’s general hiring needs.

Under PERM, the employer must show that no qualified, willing, or available US worker can take that position. This requirement is meant to protect the prospects of American workers while allowing employers to sponsor foreign workers when suitable US workers cannot fill the role.

The process is central to the dispute because the government says it was widely abused. Officials also said some companies paid foreign workers around $20,000 less than wages for comparable positions held by US workers. Suspending new PERM applications therefore blocks the certification step for affected companies and delays this green-card pathway.

H-1B visas and employment-based green cards serve different stages of a foreign worker’s US employment. An H-1B visa allows a worker to hold eligible employment in the United States. Permanent residency is a longer-term status and one path through which foreign technology workers can acquire a green card.

The connection appears through PERM. As Vice President J D Vance explained, suspending PERM means affected companies can no longer take H-1B workers and apply for permanent resident status within the United States. Employers generally need Labor Department certification before filing most employment-based green-card petitions.

The suspension does not erase the article’s figures on earlier H-1B approvals or labor certifications. Instead, it stops new PERM applications by the affected companies. That cuts off the next step toward permanent residency for H-1B workers whose employers would otherwise seek sponsorship.

Since 2009, the companies discussed by US Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling made requests involving almost 3 million foreign workers. The government presented this figure to show the scale of foreign-worker hiring connected with the companies named in its announcement.

The same companies received more than 230,000 H-1B visa approvals during that period. They also received over 100,000 permanent labor certifications. A permanent labor certification is the Labor Department approval employers seek through the PERM process before filing most employment-based green-card petitions.

Officials used these numbers while arguing that many jobs had been taken from American workers. The figures cover activity since 2009, not just the current suspension. The immediate policy change concerns new PERM applications, while the article gives the earlier totals as evidence behind the government’s allegations of widespread abuse.

The US government says the PERM process was widely abused, hurting the prospects of American citizens. Its concern is that employers were obtaining approval to hire foreign workers even when qualified, willing, and available US workers might have filled the jobs.

Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling cited the companies’ requests for almost 3 million foreign workers since 2009, along with more than 230,000 H-1B approvals and over 100,000 permanent labor certifications. He said this represented hundreds of thousands of jobs taken from American workers. The Labor Department also reported lower pay for some foreign workers.

According to the department, some companies paid foreign workers around $20,000 less than wages offered for comparable jobs held by US workers. The government said some companies were under active federal investigation. These claims led to the suspension of new PERM applications for affected companies.

The immediate effect is a halt on new PERM applications by the affected companies. Without this step, employers cannot move forward through the usual process for filing most employment-based green-card petitions. The suspension therefore directly affects companies sponsoring foreign workers for permanent residency.

J D Vance described the consequence for Microsoft in specific terms: it could no longer apply through PERM or take H-1B workers and apply for permanent resident status in the United States. PERM certification normally requires an employer to show that no qualified, willing, and available US worker can fill the job.

For foreign technology workers, the suspension blocks this permanent-residency route through their affected employers. The article does not state how long the suspension will last or whether existing applications will be canceled. It says only that new applications are being suspended, so the documented immediate change concerns future filings.

US immigration law uses this requirement to put American workers first in many employment-based green-card cases. Before an employer sponsors a foreign worker for permanent residency, it must seek Labor Department certification for the specific job. The employer must show that no qualified, willing, and available US worker can fill it.

The PERM process is the mechanism for making that showing. It links an employer’s green-card sponsorship to the conditions of the particular position. In principle, this prevents employers from using foreign-worker sponsorship where a suitable American worker is ready and able to take the job.

The requirement matters because the government says abuse of the process harmed American workers’ prospects. Officials alleged that some companies paid foreign workers around $20,000 less than comparable US workers. The current suspension reflects that concern, although the article does not describe every legal rule or review used in PERM cases.