- The Labor Department suspended eight technology companies from PERM, halting new and pending filings.
- The action names Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Capgemini, Microsoft and Adobe.
- The pause may delay green-card cases awaiting labor certification, but it does not automatically cancel existing H-1B status or earlier approvals.
The U.S. Department of Labor has suspended six major technology-services companies from the Permanent Labor Certification program, stopping new filings and pending cases tied to the employers. The move also covers Microsoft and Adobe.
Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling announced the action Thursday, October 8, 2026, with Vice President JD Vance and the head of the U.S. Anti-Fraud Task Force present. The department cited multiple active federal investigations.
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The six firms named in the announcement are Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini. Microsoft and Adobe are also subject to the suspension.
Sonderling described the companies as major global IT outsourcing firms. He said the department would suspend them from the program.
“I am hereby suspending from the Permanent Labor Certification Programme some of the largest IT outsourcing firms in the world, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini.”
He also said the department would “not accept any new or process any pending permanent labour certification applications involving these companies.” The freeze therefore reaches both new filings and applications already in the agency’s queue.
The department cited years of hiring and certification totals
Sonderling said the companies collectively sought foreign workers and received immigration approvals and labor certifications over a period beginning in 2009. The figures describe the companies as a group.
| Measure cited since 2009 | Figure |
|---|---|
| Foreign workers requested | Almost three million |
| H-1B visa approvals received | More than 230,000 |
| Permanent labor certifications received | More than 100,000 |
He characterized the effect on U.S. employment as “hundreds of thousands of jobs that were taken from American workers.” The statement was the department’s account of the consequences behind its action.
The action focuses on labor certification for permanent residence. It is not an announcement that all employees of the companies have lost their jobs or immigration status.
PERM is a required labor-certification step in many green-card cases
The PERM process, formally called Program Electronic Review Management, is a Department of Labor certification stage. Employers generally need that certification before sponsoring a foreign worker in many employment-based green-card cases.
That makes the suspension an employer-side barrier in the permanent-residence process. The affected companies cannot start new cases covered by the order, and applications already pending with the department will not be processed while the suspension applies.
Employees whose cases have not passed labor certification may see green-card sponsorship delayed. The pause could affect H-1B professionals at the named firms, including Indian workers, who are pursuing employment-based permanent residence.
The immediate restriction is on the companies’ use of this labor-certification channel. It is separate from canceling an H-1B visa or ending an employee’s H-1B status.
Pending sponsorship cases face a pause, not automatic visa cancellations
The Labor Department’s move does not, by itself, cancel existing H-1B visas or status. Nor does it mean every worker employed by a named company has been refused a green card.
A case that has yet to clear the labor-certification stage may be delayed because the employer cannot move it through the covered PERM process. That consequence is different from a denial of permanent residence across the board.
Previously approved PERM certifications are not automatically erased by the suspension. USCIS-approved I-140 petitions also remain in place rather than disappearing solely because the employer’s access to new PERM processing has been halted.
The distinction separates workers at different points in the process. Employees still awaiting labor certification face the direct interruption; an earlier approval is not automatically undone by the new action.
The order is also not an H-1B cancellation measure. Its immediate reach is the employer’s ability to initiate or continue the relevant labor-certification stage for permanent residence.
Cognizant had faced a separate suspension last month
Cognizant had already been suspended from PERM in connection with an alleged visa-fraud investigation. The earlier action was announced on September 8, 2026, by Anthony D’Esposito, the Department of Labor inspector general.
The October announcement extends the measure to other large IT-services companies and separately names Microsoft and Adobe. The department’s stated basis includes multiple active federal investigations.
The new suspension leaves workers’ cases at different stages with different immediate consequences: applications still awaiting labor certification are covered by the processing halt, while previously approved certifications and USCIS-approved I-140 petitions are not automatically erased.
