The United States government has moved to exclude some of the world’s top tech companies from a programme that allows them to sponsor skilled foreign workers for permanent residency. Vice President JD Vance said the action was a response to companies abusing the system to hire lower-paid foreign workers at the expense of US workers. It comes as US President Donald Trump’s administration continues efforts to clamp down on immigration – both legal and undocumented – and make it harder for immigrants to get residency or citizenship.
But the latest move also potentially impacts thousands of foreign workers, many of whom have spent years waiting for a backlog in applications to clear. Here’s what to know about the latest policy: The suspension concerns the Permanent Labour Certification (PERM) programme, which enables a US-based employer to sponsor a foreign worker’s green card — as the permanent residency is commonly known. To qualify, the employer is supposed to demonstrate that there are insufficient US workers for a needed job role and that bringing a foreign worker will not impact the pay or conditions of US workers in the industry.
PERM is a key step in the green card process for many skilled foreign workers. Major tech companies often hire workers on temporary visas, such as the H-1B, before they transition to permanent residency through the PERM process. Vance on Thursday accused major companies of fraudulently using the current visa regime to displace US employees and bring in lower-paid foreign workers who amount to “indentured servants”.
He claimed that many workers who start off on temporary H-1B visas and later apply for permanent residency under the PERM programme are “being mistreated by their employers” and “used to undercut the wages of American workers”. The American worker,” he said. Vance singled out Microsoft as a major offender and said it would be suspended from the PERM programme.
Other companies whose PERM applications will no longer be processed include US software firm Adobe and some of the world’s top IT firms, including Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini. Of these, Capgemini is French, Microsoft and Adobe are American, and the rest — Cognizant, Infosys, TCS, Wipro and HCL — are all Indian. Vance said the suspensions would continue “as long as it needs to”.
Other companies that rely heavily on H-1B visas such as Meta, Amazon or Alphabet’s Google will not be affected. Critics of the H-1B visa and PERM green card process argue that some employers use the system not to fill legitimate skills shortages, but to reduce labour costs, gain leverage over workers and make it harder for US employees to compete for jobs. They say companies do this by hiring foreign workers at lower wages and manipulating recruitment conditions to keep out qualified US workers.
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