At an October 8 news conference, Vice President JD Vance announced that Microsoft would be suspended from the Department of Labor’s permanent labor certification process, commonly known as PERM. Acting Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling also named Adobe and six IT services firms: Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini. Sonderling said the department would not accept new permanent labor certification applications or process pending applications involving these companies. The officials did not announce an end date.
What PERM Does
PERM is a step required for many employer-sponsored green card cases, generally in the EB-2 and EB-3 categories. The employer applies to the Department of Labor, which must determine that there are not sufficient U.S. workers who are able, willing, qualified, and available for the job and that employing the foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers. Other employment-based immigrant categories and certain exceptions do not require an individual PERM certification.
What Officials Said
Officials alleged misuse of the system, and Sonderling said Microsoft and Adobe were subject to multiple active federal investigations. Vance described concerns about Microsoft’s hiring and layoffs. The allegations described at the news conference are not findings established by the announcement, which did not explain the evidentiary basis for the investigations. The suspension concerns the department’s handling of new and pending PERM applications involving the named companies; officials did not announce a suspension of the PERM program generally.
What Remains Unclear
The information reviewed does not explain whether separately incorporated subsidiaries are covered or how the action affects approved labor certifications, petitions already filed with USCIS, pending adjustment applications, or existing work status. For that reason, those questions should not be resolved by inference from the announcement alone.
What Applicants Should Know
For workers whose employers were named, the announced restriction concerns the PERM stage of the employment-based green card process. It does not state that an individual’s existing immigration status is affected, nor does it explain how cases that have already moved beyond PERM will be treated. The impact on a particular case will depend on its stage and any further guidance from the Department of Labor or USCIS.
As the situation develops, we will continue to monitor Department of Labor guidance on the duration and scope of the suspension, including how pending PERM applications will be handled, and update this article as new information becomes available.
