# US suspends Microsoft and seven other technology companies from PERM program
The US government has indefinitely suspended Microsoft, Adobe and six major information-technology services companies from a federal labor-certification program used by employers seeking permanent residence for foreign workers. Officials announced the action on October 8, saying multiple investigations were examining possible abuse of the system.
The other companies named were Cognizant Technology Solutions, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini. Vice President JD Vance and Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling presented the suspensions at a Washington briefing, where they argued that participating employers had disadvantaged American workers. The allegations remain under investigation, and the announcement did not establish findings through a completed court or administrative process.
The measure targets the Permanent Labor Certification Program, commonly known as PERM. Employers use PERM when sponsoring a foreign employee for an employment-based green card, often after the worker has held H-1B or another temporary status. The program requires an employer to undertake a regulated recruitment and labor-market process before moving forward with the immigration petition. Its suspension removes an important retention route for affected companies while their cases remain unresolved.
Microsoft rejected the administration's account of its visa practices and said it expected to provide officials with more information. The company said it filed about 6,000 H-1B applications in the most recent fiscal year, with 80 percent seeking extensions or status changes for existing employees. It said the remaining applications for new employees represented roughly one percent of its US workforce. Adobe and the other named companies did not immediately respond to the report's requests for comment.
The announcement illustrates how the administration's wider immigration crackdown is reaching legal employment pathways used heavily by technology and consulting businesses. The government has also sought a much higher filing fee for many H-1B candidates and changes that would favor higher salaries in the annual visa selection process. In a parallel move, officials announced investigations into J-1 exchange-visa holders at nine universities.
Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat, criticized the suspensions, arguing that PERM already contains procedures intended to protect US workers and that restricting legal immigration would weaken innovation. Supporters of the action contend that tighter enforcement is needed to prevent employers from using sponsored workers in place of domestic hiring.
The dispute now turns on the investigations and any process available to the companies to answer the allegations. Until those reviews produce evidence and formal findings, the administration's claims and Microsoft’s defense should be treated as competing accounts rather than settled fact. The immediate consequence, however, is clear: eight large employers have lost access to a significant permanent-residency channel for sponsored workers.
