White House Suspends H-1B and Green Card Processing for Microsoft, Tata, Infosys and Five Other Firms

The administration said on 8 October it will stop processing new and pending H-1B visa petitions and PERM labour certifications, the first step toward an employment-based green card, for eight companies: Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, Infosys, HCL and Capgemini.

Vice President Vance called Microsoft the “biggest abuser.” Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said: “We are cutting off the head of the snake.”

What’s known and what isn’t

The announcement came at a White House briefing. As of 12 October no proclamation, regulation or Federal Register notice had been published, so the legal basis, the duration and the criteria for choosing the eight companies aren’t public.

Microsoft says about 80% of its roughly 6,000 H-1B filings were extensions or changes of status for people it already employs, not new hires. Five of the eight are Indian or India-heavy IT services firms that have long been among the largest H-1B users. Indian nationals receive most H-1B visas.

Federal contractors

Several of the companies are large federal IT contractors. Microsoft supplies cloud and software across government, and IT services firms such as Cognizant and Capgemini run agency systems. It isn’t clear whether workers on federal contracts are affected. If extensions are frozen, contractors could lose staff on government projects in the middle of performance periods.

The wider H-1B fight

The move adds to a run of H-1B restrictions. A $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions, set in 2025, has been blocked by two courts, and DHS replaced the random lottery with one weighted toward higher wages, as covered in our post on the fee.

Targeting named companies is new. Immigration law sets rules for categories of employers, such as H-1B-dependent firms that must meet extra conditions, but it doesn’t obviously let the executive stop processing for a list of companies it picks. Expect lawsuits once a written order exists.

Why it matters

H-1B workers fill a large share of US software and IT services jobs. The administration argues outsourcing firms use the programme to replace American workers at lower pay. Companies argue they can’t find enough qualified US staff. Singling out eight employers gives the government leverage over companies that also want federal contracts and approvals, which is likely to be part of any court challenge.