The Trump administration suspended Microsoft's Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) applications because officials say the company used foreign-worker programs to displace U.S. workers. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling also cited multiple active federal investigations involving Microsoft. PERM is the Labor Department test that no qualified U.S.
worker is available before an employer can sponsor most EB-2 or EB-3 green cards. On Oct. 8, 2026, Sonderling said the department will not accept new or process pending PERM cases involving eight named employers, according to South Shore Press in its South Shore Press report on the PERM suspension. Vice President JD Vance joined the White House announcement and accused Microsoft of replacing laid-off workers with H-1B holders.
Table of Contents
- What did the Labor Department freeze?
- Why were Microsoft and Adobe named?
- Why were six outsourcing firms included?
- Which workers are affected right now?
What did the Labor Department freeze?
The order stops PERM processing only where one of the eight named companies is involved. It covers both new filings and pending applications that had not yet been decided. Workers and employers cannot move those cases forward while the freeze remains.
The eight companies are Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini. H1B IQ reports that the action was announced with Vance at the White House in its H1B IQ breakdown of the eight-company PERM freeze. The scope is employer-specific rather than a change to PERM rules for all employers.
Why were Microsoft and Adobe named?
Sonderling distinguished the two product companies from the other six targets. He said Microsoft and Adobe were suspended because of multiple active federal investigations. He did not publicly describe the subjects of those investigations in the material provided.
The broader rationale was displacement of American workers. Vance framed Microsoft as laying off U.S. staff while continuing to use H-1B workers. Sonderling added that since 2009 the eight companies requested almost 3 million foreign workers, with over 230,000 H-1B approvals and over 100,000 labor certifications.
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Why were six outsourcing firms included?
The six staffing and outsourcing firms are Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini. Sonderling accused them of systematic abuse of the PERM process. That allegation focuses on how applications were prepared and used, not on every individual worker.
He also tied those six companies to ongoing criminal investigations led by Labor Inspector General Anthony D'Esposito. Officials connected the suspensions to a new visa-fraud strike team. That link signals that PERM enforcement, rather than routine backlogs, is driving the timing.
Which workers are affected right now?
A foreign employee who needs a new employer-sponsored EB-2 or EB-3 case through one of the eight companies cannot advance that PERM step. H1B IQ explains that PERM is the required first step for most EB-2 and EB-3 green cards in its H1B IQ explanation of PERM and employer green cards.
Without it, the later petition cannot proceed. The freeze does not erase past approvals or current work status. It does not cancel already-approved PERMs, filed I-140 petitions, or current H-1B status.
- Check whether your case is a new PERM, a pending PERM, an approved PERM, or an I-140 stage case.
- Ask the employer's immigration counsel which company entity filed the case.
- Keep H-1B and other status documents current and separate from the PERM pause.
- Track Labor Department updates on the strike-team review before refiling.
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