Microsoft and Capgemini face new PERM ban for green‑card filings

The U.S. is pausing eight technology companies from the PERM program, the labor certification step most employers use before petitioning for an employment-based green card. The move comes as the Labor Department widens a fraud probe into PERM filings and related practices.

Microsoft and Capgemini are among the companies named in the suspension, along with Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and HCL Technologies. The announcements were made by officials at a White House briefing and confirmed by the Labor Department’s inspector general as part of an ongoing review into potential abuses in the system.

PERM is the first hurdle in many employer-based green-card processes. When a company files a PERM application, it demonstrates there are no qualified, available U.S. workers for the role. If the process is blocked, that specific green-card petition might stall or be delayed. However, the government noted that currently approved or filed PERM petitions are not canceled, and no one’s visa status is affected by the suspensions themselves.

The broader backdrop includes a separate push to scrutinize skilled-work visa usage in the U.S. Some of the same companies have large U.S. operations and significant reliance on foreign workers. The investigation also touches on how universities issue certain visas, though no final conclusions or penalties are stated yet for those institutions.

In the immediate term, the suspensions create uncertainty for employees whose path to permanent residency could have depended on new PERM filings. For readers who aren’t navigating the green-card process, the practical takeaway is that large employers may face delays in hiring foreign specialists or adjusting visa structures during this period.

Officials stressed that this is an active investigation with no announced end date. The question now is how the eight companies adjust their U.S. hiring and immigration pipelines while the government continues its review.