The move could disrupt a common route to permanent residency for foreign tech workers, though it does not appear to directly affect current H-1B visa holders.
The Trump administration froze on Thursday some Green Card filings by eight firms including India’s Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys and opened probes into nine elite universities, widening a visa crackdown it says targets fraud and American job losses.
The twin actions mark the broadest strike yet against skilled-worker immigration programmes, potentially blocking a common path to permanent residency for thousands of foreign tech workers, including Indians, in the US while putting some of the country’s most prominent research universities on notice.
Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said the suspension would cover Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Microsoft, Adobe and Capgemini.
“We will not accept any new or process any pending permanent labour certification applications involving these companies,” Sonderling said.
“I’m sure that everyone here understands the game that is being played. Bring in indentured servants from outside the country, you lay off American workers and if you’re a corporation, you make a ton of money by undercutting the wages of American workers, replacing them with people who probably should not be in the United States of America to begin with,” Vice President JD Vance said.
Vance also said nine universities, including Harvard, Yale and Stanford, would be investigated for what the administration called the misuse of exchange-visitor visas to undercut American wages.
Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Wipro and Capgemini did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) declined to comment.
Under the Labour Department’s permanent labour certification process, known as PERM, which is required for most employment-based Green Cards, employers must show that hiring a foreign worker will not harm the wages, working conditions or job opportunities of US workers. Approved applications then go to US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The freeze does not appear to directly affect current holders of H-1B visas, which allow companies to employ foreign workers temporarily. But it could block a common route by which employers sponsor those workers for permanent residency.
Indian IT firms such as Infosys, TCS, Wipro and HCL, along with Cognizant, have long been among the biggest users of H-1B visas. Amazon.com was the largest employer of approved H-1B beneficiaries in fiscal 2026, followed by Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Apple and Microsoft, according to USCIS data. Microsoft is also the largest filer of PERM applications, according to Permtrack.app, which compiles Labour Department disclosure data.
The nine universities also include Brown and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Vance accused them of using J-1 exchange-visitor visas to bring in international students and undercut American wages. Labour Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito said subpoenas had already been served.
The crackdown comes as part of a broader effort to disincentivise American employers from using the H-1B visa programme. In September 2025, President Donald Trump announced a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa petitions, which was subsequently blocked by a US court in June this year. In August 2026, the Trump administration proposed a fresh $103,265 H-1B visa fee, which would apply to all H-1B petitions subject to the annual cap of 85,000.
Source: Hindustan Times
