GoKawiilUS Labor Department freezes green-card applications for Microsoft, Adobe and five other firms
The Labor Department has halted processing of new and pending permanent labor certification applications tied to H-1B visa holders at Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini. Vice President JD Vance said the companies had abused the green-card system by under-advertising US jobs to justify hiring foreign workers instead, singling out Microsoft as the heaviest user of the process. Microsoft responded that most of its H-1B filings were extensions for existing staff rather than new hires, and that new-hire visas represent only 1 percent of its US workforce.
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The suspension signals a broader administration push to tighten scrutiny of employment-based immigration programs that tech firms rely on for specialized talent, which could slow hiring pipelines and prompt companies to rethink global staffing strategies. Microsoft's rebuttal suggests firms may contest the government's characterization of how visas are used, framing the dispute as one over definitions of 'new hire' versus 'status change.' The move could also foreshadow further policy action against outsourcing-heavy firms like Infosys and TCS, which appear prominently in both the freeze and in overall H-1B usage statistics.
- Seven companies, including Microsoft and Adobe, had green-card applications tied to H-1B workers frozen by the Labor Department.
- VP JD Vance accused the firms of under-advertising jobs domestically to justify hiring foreign workers over Americans.
- Microsoft says 80 percent of its recent H-1B filings were extensions for existing employees, not new hires.
Source: engadget.com — Anna Washenko, 2026-10-08
Published there as: “US suspends permanent residency program for Microsoft, Adobe and other tech companies”
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