US Suspends Green Card Processing for Microsoft, Adobe, Tata, Wipro and Other Tech Firms

The United States has suspended the processing of green card applications for several major technology companies, including Microsoft, Adobe, Tata, Wipro, HCL and Capgemini, barring them from moving forward with permanent employment applications for skilled foreign workers under the relevant visa programmes.

US Vice-President JD Vance has accused Microsoft and other companies of abusing the H-1B visa programme and related processes that allow foreign workers to obtain permanent residency in the United States.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Vance alleged that Microsoft, one of America's most valuable companies, was effectively replacing American workers with “foreign contract labour”.

Microsoft said most of its H-1B visa petitions filed in the last fiscal year were for existing employees, who are paid at the same rates as their US-based counterparts.

“No company in America has abused this system more than Microsoft,” Vance said.

He levelled similar accusations against Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL and Capgemini.

At the same press conference, Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling said the US government would not approve new or pending applications under the Permanent Labour Certification (PERM) programme submitted by Microsoft and the seven other companies.

Sonderling also criticised major technology companies and US universities, describing them as “visa factories” that were flooding the country with foreign workers.

The BBC contacted all the companies for comment, but responses were not immediately available from all of them.

Microsoft said the majority of its employees in the United States are American citizens. The company employs more than 200,000 people worldwide.

Vance claimed on Thursday that Microsoft had laid off approximately 6,000 workers while submitting applications for 6,800 H-1B visas during the same period.

A Microsoft spokesperson told the BBC that 80% of the company's H-1B visa petitions filed in the last fiscal year were related to employees already working at Microsoft, rather than new hires.

The company maintained that its visa applications largely supported its existing workforce.

The H-1B programme allows US employers to recruit foreign professionals for specialised occupations requiring relevant expertise. The annual cap for new H-1B visas is generally 85,000, although certain categories of applicants are exempt from the limit.

Major American technology companies, including Amazon, Google, Meta, Apple and Nvidia, have also relied on the programme for years to recruit international talent. However, none of these companies was included in Vance's specific allegations at Thursday's press conference.

For decades, the H-1B programme has been designed to help employers recruit highly skilled or specialised workers when they need expertise that may be difficult to find in the domestic labour market.

The PERM programme is a key step in the process through which employers can sponsor eligible foreign workers for permanent residency in the United States, often leading to a green card.

A green card allows its holder to live and work permanently in the country.

Under the PERM process, employers generally must demonstrate that they have met applicable labour-market requirements before sponsoring a foreign worker for permanent employment.

According to the US Department of Labour, more than 130,000 PERM applications were approved across 10 business sectors during the last fiscal year.

The suspension marks a significant development in the ongoing debate over foreign labour, immigration policy and the role of international talent in the American technology industry.