The US administration suspended the Permanent Labour Certification program on October 8, halting a step in some employer-sponsored green-card cases at Indian technology firms including Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro. The pause also affects US companies such as Microsoft and Adobe.
The immediate effect is a delay in a route to permanent residency. Existing H-1B visas are not automatically cancelled.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs said on October 9 that the suspension would not itself change visa holders’ or dependants’ immigration status, or require affected workers to leave the United States. It could delay workers’ green-card efforts.
Sridhar Vembu, co-founder and chief scientist of Chennai-based Zoho Corporation, urged Indian professionals in the US to return. He made the appeal on October 9.
“Indians have made a major contribution to America's technological prowess. Yet, a big part of America no longer wants us. Indians who are on a visa in the US face the painful prospect of uprooting the life you have built with hard work.”
“Let this be the birth pains of a bold new future. Come back, let's build India.”
The suspension stalls a green-card step, not existing H-1B status
Dr Ivy Handique, a research associate at the Vivekananda International Foundation, identified Infosys and HCL Tech among Indian firms affected, alongside the companies named above. She described the labour-certification stage as part of the employer-sponsored process for certain employment-based green cards.
| Group | What changes | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| Employers with cases in the certification process | Processing of this green-card step is suspended | October 8 |
| Current H-1B holders and dependants | No automatic cancellation or status change from the suspension | October 9 clarification |
Employers generally must show that no qualified and available US workers can fill the position. They must also show that hiring a foreign worker would not harm the wages or working conditions of similarly employed Americans.
The administration has cited alleged misuse of labour-certification procedures and possible displacement of domestic workers. An H-1B visa and a green card use different immigration processes, Handique said; each worker’s situation depends on individual circumstances.
Indian firms face falling registrations and a wage-weighted selection system
People born in India accounted for approximately 70 per cent of approved H-1B petitions in fiscal year 2025. Computer-related occupations represented around 62 per cent of approvals.
The annual H-1B limit is up to 85,000 visas: 65,000 in the regular category and 20,000 reserved for foreign graduates with advanced degrees from US universities. The largest IT staffing and outsourcing firms recorded 2,055 registrations in the FY27 cycle, down 92% from 24,946 in FY25. Consular-processing requests fell nearly 97% over the same period.
Seven major Indian IT firms also saw new H-1B approvals fall 70% from 2015 levels by FY2025, as companies hired locally and shifted more work offshore. The change in selection rules adds another pressure point.
Starting in FY2027, US Citizenship and Immigration Services weights registrations by the wage level for the job’s occupation. Wage level IV entries go into the selection pool four times, level III three times, level II twice and level I once. Employers can still seek workers at every wage level.
Court orders have unsettled a separate H-1B payment requirement
A presidential proclamation issued September 19, 2025, set an additional $100,000 payment for certain H-1B petitions filed at or after 12:01 a.m. Eastern on Sept. 21, 2025. The measure covered, among other specified cases, beneficiaries outside the US without a valid H-1B visa. Previously issued and currently valid visas, and petitions filed before that time, were excluded.
The payment’s legal status has shifted. On June 8, 2026, the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated agency guidance implementing it in State of California v. Mullin, 1:25-cv-13829 (D. Mass.). The First Circuit denied the government’s request for a stay on July 24, 2026.
The Department of Homeland Security said it would comply with the court order while considering next steps. It also said it still plans to collect the payment if the order is later lifted.
DHS issued a separate final rule on August 10, 2026, covering the statutory 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee for H-1B and L-1 visas. It took effect Sept. 9, 2026. Employers covered by the rule have at least 50 US employees, with more than half in H-1B or L-1A or L-1B status; amended petitions that do not seek to extend authorized status are excepted.
The department has also proposed allowing officers to reassess eligibility when people seek extensions of temporary work visas, including H-1B and L-1 visas. That proposal has not taken effect, and DHS is seeking feedback on the package.
Indian leaders want more high-value technology work to stay home
Vice-President J.D. Vance accused major companies of fraudulently bringing in lower-paid foreign workers, describing them as “indentured servants” and calling some employers “visa mills.” India’s Ministry of External Affairs called the description “deeply offensive,” citing the term’s painful historical and colonial associations.
At a CBS News town hall on Saturday, October 17, Vance responded to an Indian immigrant who became a US citizen five years ago and voted for President Donald Trump. He said:
“To the extent that my rhetoric has been imperfect here, that's on me.”
Vance said he meant employers and the visa system, not H-1B professionals. He argued that workers can face uncertainty because losing a job may put their ability to stay in the country at risk, giving employers considerable influence. He also referred to his wife Usha Vance’s family, whose parents immigrated from South India, and said he did not intend to dehumanize immigrants.
Former education minister Dharmendra Pradhan backed Vembu’s appeal, saying confidence in Indian talent and stronger local capabilities could help shape technology’s future. Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge warned that the suspension could raise operating costs and reduce Indian IT companies’ flexibility in the US. He said difficulty relocating engineers could leave more high-value work in India.
Former HCLTech chief executive Vineet Nayar said tighter H-1B and certification rules could hurt Indian IT firms in the short term but move more US technology work to India. He urged companies to expand beyond manpower-heavy outsourcing into AI, product engineering, cybersecurity and technology ownership, while preparing for productivity gains that may weaken the link between business growth and hiring.
US Congressman Riley Moore called H-1B and Optional Practical Training programs “SCAMS.” He said they replace American workers with lower-paid foreign labour, and claimed a typical H-1B holder brings 10 family members. Those remarks add to the political debate around work visas.
A policy suggestion by Brijesh Pratap, prepared on 11 August 2025 for consideration in the Prime Minister’s Independence Day address of 15 August, proposed a five-year tax holiday on income earned in India for qualified returning technologists and researchers. The paper says Indian nationals made up approximately 72 percent of H-1B beneficiaries approved in FY2023, and that H-1B petitions fell about 18 percent from FY2022 to FY2023.
It also cites Indian remittances of around $120–129 billion in 2023–2024 and annual production of roughly 1.0–1.5 million engineering and technical graduates. The paper presents those figures as reasons to turn overseas talent flows into domestic capacity.
Tarun found work in India after leaving a difficult US job search
Tarun, from Tirupati, completed a master’s degree in data science at Pace University in New York in May last year. He returned to India in October after frequent visa-rule changes and employer sponsorship requirements made it difficult to find work in the US.
“I got a job within one month here [Bengaluru] with an American engineering company.”
“At the end of the day, my decision is about my happiness. I am close to my friends and family.”
Tarun said he wanted the Indian government to do more for professionals facing visa pressures abroad. He returned to a country that produces roughly 1.0–1.5 million engineering and technical graduates annually, while the US Indian diaspora is estimated at 5.8 million to 6.1 million people.
