- The US suspended eight technology companies from the PERM green-card labor-certification program on October 8, 2026.
- The affected firms include TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCLTech, Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant and Capgemini; pending cases are also affected.
- The US bought 54.1% of India’s exports in software and IT-enabled services in FY2025–26, according to GTRI.
The United States suspended eight technology companies from the PERM green-card labor-certification program on October 8, 2026, disrupting new and pending applications and raising long-term staffing uncertainty for Indian technology exporters.
The companies are Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Wipro, HCLTech, Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant and Capgemini. The suspension affects both new cases and applications already in progress.
Employers generally use PERM, a U.S. Department of Labor process, before sponsoring eligible foreign workers for employment-based permanent residence. The action does not automatically cancel workers’ existing H-1B status.
Nor does it bar the companies from filing H-1B petitions through the normal process. The immediate change is to the green-card labor-certification route.
India’s export exposure is concentrated in the US market
India’s US$221.4 billion software and IT-enabled-services export sector generated that total in FY2025–26. The United States bought US$119.7 billion, or 54.1%, of those exports, making it India’s largest market.
The figures come from the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), headed by Ajay Srivastava. He described the suspension as a “warning for India’s IT industry” and said it signals a more protectionist US approach toward foreign technology workers.
GTRI also cautioned that the policy could reach beyond green-card sponsorship. The areas it identified include H-1B hiring, skilled-worker mobility, outsourcing and broader limits on foreign technology workers.
Most US-bound work is still delivered from India
GTRI estimates that companies delivered 91.7% of India’s software and IT-enabled-services exports from India in FY2025–26. Professionals at overseas client locations delivered the other 8.3%.
Applying that worldwide pattern to US-bound exports yields an estimated US$109.8 billion delivered from India and US$9.9 billion delivered on-site in the United States. That second figure is an approximation, not a US-specific breakdown.
It also does not measure work performed only by employees seeking green cards. The estimate therefore cannot be treated as the amount of US business directly exposed to the suspension.
GTRI expects the greater near-term strain to fall on employee retention and long-range staffing, rather than on most current client projects. Indian technology companies increasingly use delivery teams in India and employees hired locally in the United States.
Staffing uncertainty could shift higher-value work toward India
Affected Indian professionals may face delays or uncertainty in permanent-residency cases. Companies could also struggle to retain foreign workers who no longer see a clear path to permanent residence.
Businesses may respond by hiring more locally in the United States to reduce reliance on immigration. At the same time, engineering, artificial-intelligence, cybersecurity and product-development work could move to India.
Multinational companies may expand engineering teams and specialized projects at Indian Global Capability Centres (GCCs). Former HCL Technologies CEO Vineet Nayar said US restrictions could encourage American companies to shift more high-value technology work, including AI, product engineering and cybersecurity, to India.
GTRI urges companies to change how they serve US clients
The research group recommends that Indian technology companies:
- Diversify export markets beyond the United States.
- Strengthen India-based delivery models.
- Expand local hiring in the United States where needed.
- Focus on AI and other higher-value technology services.
- Reduce reliance on immigration pathways vulnerable to sudden US policy changes.
GTRI’s warning is not that India’s entire export total will disappear. Its concern is that the US market’s large share gives Washington leverage over companies’ staffing models, worker mobility and future expansion plans. The proposed shifts toward local hiring and India-based delivery would address those exposures without assuming that current projects will stop.
