The US government suspended several technology firms from the Green card program. The list of companies impacted include Cognizant, Capgemini, Microsoft and Adobe along with India IT giants Infosys, TCS, Wipro and HCL. Does it mean that these companies will not be able to hire workers seeking green cards to live and work in America? No. While the move blocks a path to permanent residency for affected workers, it does not suspend the H-1B program, commonly used by tech majors to hire skilled, non-immigrant workers. Because these companies have been suspended from the Permanent Labor Certification Program, also known as PERM.The program runs through the US Labor Department, and is separate from the H-1B visa program.
What is PERM
As stated above, a PERM certificate is issued by the Department of Labor (DOL) and allows an employer to hire a foreign worker to work permanently in the United States. In most instances, before the US employer can submit an immigration petition to the Department of Homeland Security’s US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the employer must obtain a certified labor certification application from the DOL’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA).The DOL must certify to the USCIS that there are not sufficient U.S workers able, willing, qualified, and available to accept the job opportunity in the area of intended employment and that employment of the foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed US workers.
PERM vs H-1B: What is the difference
The key difference between H-1B and PERM is that the H-1B is a temporary work visa, while PERM is one step in a process that can lead to permanent residency. They are not competing programmes, and a worker may use both at different stages of their career in the US.Vice President JD Vance’ crackdown specifically targets PERM which is usually considered as the first step in employers sponsoring workers for employment-based green cards.
| Feature | PERM | H-1B |
| Purpose | Helps an employer sponsor a worker for a Green Card | Allows an employer to hire a foreign worker temporarily |
| Type | A labour certification process, not a visa | A temporary work visa programme |
| Main requirement | Employer must generally show that there are not enough qualified, available US workers for the job | Job must generally require specialised knowledge and at least a bachelor’s degree or equivalent in a relevant field |
| What it offers | One step towards employment-based permanent residency | Permission to work in the US temporarily |
| Who applies? | The employer files the application | The employer petitions for the worker |
What JD Vance said
In his crackdown, JD Vance specifically singled out Microsoft saying: “So if the H-1B visa is how the people get into the country, the PERM program is how they stay in the United States to begin with,” Vance said. “Now there has been no company in the United States, unfortunately, that has abused the system more than Microsoft.”“So, in the last year, Microsoft — and I want to be clear about the data here, so let me check this — but Microsoft laid off last year 6,000 American workers,” Vance said. “At the same time, the company benefited from 6,300 H-1B visas and almost 3,000 green cards.”“In other words, if you do the math, for every worker that Microsoft laid off, they replaced that worker with one and a half foreign indentured servants.”
Will H-1B visa holders be impacted by this suspension
JD Vance’s decision does not suspend or cancel the H-1B visa program. It neither revokes the existing H-1B visas.Per reports, Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said “We will not accept any new or process any pending permanent labor certification applications involving these companies”.
