The United States Department of Labor announced a sweeping suspension of permanent-residency applications for a group of high-tech corporations accused of abusing the H-1B visa system. H-1B visas are intended for highly skilled foreign professionals when domestic talent is scarce, but officials say several firms have deliberately minimized U.S. job postings to favor overseas candidates.
Vice President JD Vance delivered the news at a press briefing, naming Microsoft and Adobe as the most prominent targets. The freeze also covers eight additional IT services outfits: Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Capgemini and two others. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling added that no new or pending permanent labor certification requests from these companies will be processed moving forward.
Government action and the companies involved
The administration argues that the listed firms have manipulated the permanent labor certification pathway, which ordinarily lets H-1B workers transition to a green-card once a U.S. employer demonstrates a lack of qualified domestic applicants. According to the officials, the companies “under-advertised” open positions, effectively bypassing the requirement to seek American workers first. Vance characterized the practice as replacing U.S. staff with “foreign indentured servants,” claiming that the abuse is most egregious in Microsoft’s case.
Data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services shows that Amazon tops the list of H-1B petitioners with over 9,300 applications in 2026, while Microsoft submitted roughly 3,700, ranking fifth among employers. The Labor Department noted that, since 2009, Microsoft and Adobe together have secured about 230,000 H-1B approvals and roughly 100,000 permanent labor certifications, underscoring the scale of their reliance on the program.
Company reactions and broader legal backdrop
In a written response, Microsoft emphasized that the bulk of its U.S. workforce is American. The firm disclosed that of the approximately 6,000 H-1B petitions it filed last fiscal year, 80 % were extensions or status changes for existing employees, not hires of brand-new staff. The remaining filings for new hires represented merely 1 % of Microsoft’s U.S. headcount and involved individuals already residing legally in the country. The company asserted that it adheres to the “rigorous standards” of the visa category and pays H-1B employees salaries comparable to domestic peers.
Adobe declined to comment at the time of publication. The current crackdown follows a series of prior settlements where tech firms were penalised for similar conduct. In August, the Department of Justice extracted a $3.2 million settlement from OpenAI over allegations of preferentially hiring visa-holding workers. Earlier, Meta faced a comparable case in 2021, and Apple settled in 2023 on related accusations.
Extended investigation into academic institutions
Simultaneously, the administration signaled intent to probe nine elite universities—among them Harvard, Yale and Stanford—for potential misuse of the J-1 exchange-visitor program. Critics claim some schools have turned the program into a pipeline for inexpensive labor, thereby depressing wages for U.S. graduates.
Immigration advocacy groups, such as the National Immigration Forum, warn that tightening the H-1B system could weaken America’s ability to attract global STEM talent. They argue that the United States has historically benefited from the flow of highly skilled immigrants, and that overly restrictive policies might hand advantage to competing economies.
The controversy underscores a lingering tension between the demand for specialized expertise and the political push to protect domestic employment. As the Labor Department enforces the suspension, firms will need to demonstrate compliance with advertising requirements or risk further penalties, while policymakers debate how to balance competitiveness with fair labor standards.
