U.S. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling Suspends Permanent Labor Certification Programs for Eight Companies
U.S. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling announced the suspension of the permanent labor certification programs for Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL, Capgemini, Microsoft, and Adobe. He stated that the Department of Labor will no longer accept or process new applications and pending applications involving these eight companies. Six of the outsourcing firms are referred to as among the largest IT outsourcing companies globally. Microsoft and Adobe are mentioned separately due to multiple ongoing federal investigations. Vice President JD Vance indicated that the suspension has no deadline and will remain until the government believes the issues are resolved.
Sonderling provided cumulative figures: since 2009, nearly 3 million foreign workers have been applied for by these companies, with over 230,000 H-1B approvals and more than 100,000 permanent labor certifications. He described this as hundreds of thousands of jobs taken from American workers. Permanent labor certification is a prerequisite for most employment-based green cards, where employers must prove that hiring foreign workers will not adversely affect the wages, working conditions, or job opportunities of American workers.
Vance labeled Microsoft as the most egregious offender, stating that while Microsoft is an excellent American company, it must hire excellent American workers. He noted that Microsoft laid off 6,000 American employees last year while obtaining approximately 6,300 H-1B visas, claiming that for every layoff, 1.5 foreign contract workers were hired as replacements. Microsoft responded that it is willing to further explain its use of H-1B visas to the government, emphasizing that most applicants in the last fiscal year were legally residing in the U.S. Tata declined to comment, and the other companies did not respond immediately.
This is part of the same visa action against these companies. The Department of Labor launched a firewall project in September 2025, with about 200 cases filed and millions of dollars in fines issued. The White House announcement also imposes a one-time fee of $100,000 on newly hired H-1B workers from overseas. In the fiscal year 2026, Amazon had the most approved beneficiaries, followed by Tata, Infosys, Apple, and Microsoft. Data compilation shows that Microsoft is also one of the largest submitters of permanent labor certification applications.
The buyers are the eight employers still needing to sponsor green cards for their U.S. employees, while the sellers are the suspended certification channels. The event is driven by allegations of fraud and replacing American workers, not layoff announcements. The funds do not leave the companies; it is the queue from H-1B to permanent residency that is affected. The narrative benefits domestic job seekers, while pending certifications and employees relying on these eight companies for sponsorship are under pressure. The visas already issued have not been revoked.
Source: Public Information
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Permanent labor certification is a prerequisite for employment-based green cards, not the visa itself. Sonderling broke the suspension into two parts: six outsourcing firms suspended by scale, and Microsoft and Adobe suspended due to multiple federal investigations. Vance added that there is no deadline. The figures since 2009 were presented together: nearly 3 million applications, over 230,000 H-1B approvals, and over 100,000 certifications. The path is to first suspend new and pending applications, then require companies to change their hiring structures.
Resource allocation is in the certification queue. Microsoft was singled out by Vance, citing the layoff of 6,000 American employees last year while obtaining about 6,300 H-1B visas. The company responded that most applicants in the last fiscal year were legally residing in the U.S. Tata declined to comment. The firewall project had previously filed about 200 cases. The new $100,000 fee for H-1B targets newly hired overseas, while this time it targets those already in the U.S. seeking to change to permanent status.
Similar actions include investigations into labor conditions for H-1B outsourcing since 2009 and state restrictions on outsourcing replacements. The difference this time is the direct suspension of certification processing, not just fines. The industry position is in a control phase: workers remain in their positions, but the green card queue is being choked. Amazon is the largest employer for H-1B approvals in fiscal year 2026, yet is not among these eight companies.
The essence is a transfer of pricing power. Outsourcing and tech companies previously used certifications to price temporary work visas as convertible to permanent labor, but the Department of Labor has reclaimed this pricing power in the queue. The mechanism is that employers must prove there are no suitable American workers, and once an investigation deems the proof unreliable, pending applications will no longer progress. The visas remain, but the door to permanent status is closing.