The Donald Trump administration has suspended several major technology companies, including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Cognizant and Capgemini, along with US tech giants Microsoft and Adobe, from a key labour-certification programme used in the employment-based Green Card process.
The US Department of Labor said it will not accept new or process pending Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) applications involving the affected companies while the suspension remains in place.
The administration has accused the companies of abusing employment-based immigration programmes and using foreign workers at the expense of American employees. The allegations have not, by themselves, established wrongdoing by the companies in court.
For thousands of Indian technology professionals in the US, the most immediate concern is not the loss of their existing H-1B status but uncertainty over one of the most important pathways from temporary employment to permanent residency.
Which Companies Have Been Suspended From PERM?
US Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling named Cognizant, Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini among the outsourcing companies being suspended from the programme.
Microsoft and Adobe were also included, with US authorities citing multiple ongoing federal investigations.
Vice President JD Vance said the suspensions would remain in place “as long as it needs to”, indicating that there is currently no fixed end date.
The administration says the companies collectively sought millions of foreign workers over the years and argues that closer scrutiny is needed to protect US jobs.
The affected companies have not all issued detailed responses. Microsoft has said most of its recent H-1B filings involved extensions or status changes for existing employees rather than new overseas hiring, and that comparable employees are paid on the same basis.
What Is PERM and Why Does It Matter?
PERM, or Permanent Labor Certification, is generally one of the first major steps an employer must complete before sponsoring a foreign worker for certain employment-based Green Cards.
Under the process, the employer must demonstrate to the US Department of Labor that there are not sufficient able, willing, qualified and available US workers for the position and that hiring the foreign employee will not negatively affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed American workers.
The process is employer-driven. The foreign worker cannot simply file the PERM application independently.
Once the Department of Labor certifies the application, the employer can generally move to later stages of the employment-based permanent residency process, including an immigrant petition.
That is why the suspension matters significantly for workers employed by the eight affected companies.
Does This Cancel Existing H-1B Visas?
No.
The suspension of a company from PERM does not automatically cancel the H-1B visas of its employees.
H-1B is a temporary non-immigrant work status, while PERM relates to the process used for many employment-based permanent residency applications.
An Indian employee working in the US for TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL or another affected company does not suddenly lose the right to work simply because the employer has been suspended from PERM, provided the worker continues to maintain valid H-1B status and meets the relevant immigration requirements.
The biggest impact is instead on workers who were expecting their employers to begin or continue sponsoring them for permanent residency.
What Happens if PERM Has Not Yet Been Filed?
Employees whose employers have not yet filed a PERM application could face the clearest immediate hurdle.
While the suspension remains in effect, an affected company cannot file a new PERM application for that worker.
That means the employee may be unable to begin that particular employer-sponsored Green Card process or obtain the priority date that normally comes with filing the labour certification.
This could be particularly significant for Indian professionals because employment-based Green Card applicants from India already face lengthy queues due to high demand and country-based numerical limits.
The longer the suspension continues, the longer some workers could have to wait before their employer can even begin this stage of the permanent residency process.
What About Pending PERM Applications?
The Department of Labor has said that it will not process pending permanent labour certification applications involving the named companies during the suspension.
That means workers whose PERM cases have already been submitted but not yet decided could also face delays.
This does not necessarily mean those applications have been permanently cancelled.
The key questions will be how long the suspension remains in place, whether individual applications face additional review and what further guidance the Labor Department issues.
For employees already well into the Green Card process, their position may therefore differ significantly depending on whether they have only a pending PERM, an approved PERM, an approved I-140 petition or have reached a later stage.
Why Workers Near the Six-Year H-1B Limit Could Face Greater Risk
The situation may be especially important for H-1B workers approaching the typical six-year maximum period of H-1B status.
US immigration law allows some employees pursuing employment-based permanent residency to extend their H-1B status beyond six years when specific conditions are met.
For example, certain workers may qualify for extensions when a qualifying labour certification or immigrant petition has been pending for the required period. USCIS guidance provides for extensions beyond the six-year limit in qualifying circumstances.
If an employee cannot get the PERM process started because their employer is suspended, that could complicate future options for workers approaching the end of their normal H-1B period.
However, the impact will depend heavily on each employee’s immigration history, existing filings and current status.
Indian Applicants Already Face Long Green Card Backlogs
Indian professionals are particularly sensitive to disruptions in the employment-based permanent residency system because many already face lengthy waits in categories such as EB-2 and EB-3.
The priority date established during the Green Card process effectively determines a worker’s place in the queue for an immigrant visa.
For workers from countries with particularly high demand, including India, even a relatively short delay in beginning the process can have long-term consequences.
The latest PERM action therefore adds another layer of uncertainty for Indian professionals who may already have been planning their US careers around a years-long route to permanent residency.
Could IT Companies Sponsor Fewer Green Cards?
That is now one of the biggest questions.
If the suspension continues for a prolonged period, affected IT companies could reconsider how many workers they sponsor for permanent residency and how they structure their US workforce.
Immigration attorney Geeta Darubra told India Today that prolonged uncertainty could encourage companies to place greater emphasis on compliance, recruit more US workers or consider other immigration categories where employees qualify.
This could mean that the longer-term impact extends beyond employees whose applications are currently stuck.
Future Indian hires could also find that employers are more cautious about promising eventual Green Card sponsorship.
However, how individual companies change their policies remains uncertain.
Is L-1A an Alternative?
One possible alternative for some multinational employees is the L-1A visa, which is intended for qualifying managers and executives transferred within the same corporate group.
Certain L-1A workers may later qualify for permanent residency under the EB-1C category without going through the standard PERM labour-certification process.
But this is not a direct substitute for H-1B or PERM for most workers.
Eligibility depends on the person’s job responsibilities, seniority, previous overseas employment with the company and other legal requirements.
A software engineer or other H-1B employee cannot simply switch to L-1A solely because the employer’s PERM filings have been suspended.
Why Did the Trump Administration Take This Action?
The Trump administration has framed the suspension as part of a broader crackdown on what it describes as fraud and abuse in skilled-worker immigration programmes.
Vance and Labor Department officials have argued that companies should recruit American employees before relying on foreign workers.
The administration has particularly focused on situations in which companies seek H-1B or employment-based permanent residency approvals while also announcing layoffs.
The affected companies and industry representatives have pushed back against broader suggestions that foreign workers simply replace Americans. Indian technology industry body Nasscom has also said Indian IT firms have substantially reduced their reliance on H-1B visas over time and that relatively few of their US employees seek Green Cards through PERM.
What Should Indian H-1B Workers Take Away From the Decision?
For Indian professionals, the most important distinction is that H-1B status and PERM are not the same thing.
Workers with valid H-1B status are not automatically losing their visas because their employer has been suspended from the PERM programme.
The immediate problem is the Green Card pathway.
Workers who have not yet started PERM may be unable to begin it through one of the affected employers. Those with pending applications face a processing freeze, while employees approaching the H-1B six-year limit may have more complicated immigration planning depending on the stage of their Green Card case.
Several major questions remain unanswered: how long the suspension will last, how pending applications will ultimately be treated, whether more companies will face similar action and whether affected employers will change their sponsorship policies.
Until those questions are resolved, thousands of Indian technology professionals could find that their US jobs remain intact while their route to permanent residency has become considerably less predictable.
