The United States has announced that eight technology companies, including Microsoft and Indian firms Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and HCL Technologies, will be excluded from the ability to permanently hire qualified foreign workers through the widely used visa programme. New applications and those currently in process under the Permanent Labour Certification programme, known as PERM, have been frozen.
Indians make up the majority of H-1B visa users, a temporary visa intended for specialists. Indian workers have used the H-1B to work in the US, relying on PERM to obtain a green card and, ultimately, citizenship. The latest announcement is in line with President Trump’s efforts to tighten rules on the immigration of skilled workers.
Nasscom, the association for the Indian technology industry worth $300 billion, states that Indian companies have reduced their reliance on H-1B visas and are hiring more locally. It adds that the number of employees transitioning from H-1B visas to permanent residency through the PERM process is relatively limited. Wipro stated that more than 80 per cent of its US workforce is employed locally, while Tata Consultancy Services said its PERM applications in the last two years have been single-digit. Microsoft noted in a statement that it had mainly filed H-1B visa applications to retain existing employees, rather than to import new workers.
The newspaper Business Standard, citing PERM Tracker, reported that TCS applications fell to two in the 2025/2026 year, down from 513 the previous year and 1,804 the year before that. According to the report, no data was found for Infosys and Wipro for 2025/2026. BBC questions to all eight companies regarding the impact of the restrictions and how they are supporting affected employees in the US went unanswered.
Brokerage firm HDFC Securities assessed that the impact on technology companies would be minimal, as PERM-related work constitutes only a small portion of revenue, even if replaced by better-paid American workers. A senior executive at one of the eight US-headquartered companies told the BBC, on condition of anonymity, that the new PERM restriction would "not break the business", but that the impact on a human level is "more intense". He added that a significant number of people he knows are stuck in a situation where they have spent several years in the US, but their green card application has not progressed. He noted that even if they are willing to return to India, their children do not want to, as they grew up in the US.
Researchers at the non-profit organisation Stop AAPI Hate, which campaigns against discrimination against Asians and Pacific Islanders, reported a sharp rise in negative sentiment towards South Asians online since the 2024 US elections, with Indian immigrants and H-1B visa holders being frequent targets. US Vice President JD Vance called foreign specialists on H-1B visas "foreign contract slaves", later acknowledging that the rhetoric was "incomplete". His statement drew sharp criticism from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, which described it as "unjustified" and "deeply offensive" due to its colonial connotations.
Poorvi Chothani, founder and managing partner of the global immigration law firm LawQuest, said that many came to the US for better prospects, taking on heavy debt to study and build careers. She noted that as rules are tightened, they have fewer options and less ability to bear the costs. Immigration experts believe some may reconsider their future in the US, while others may not decide to leave at all.
Ahmet Gulek, a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford’s Immigration Lab, told the BBC that despite alternative ways to obtain residency, many are likely to be unfeasible. He highlighted that moving to another company not covered by the suspension is an option, but it is unclear whether those companies would be willing to hire immigrants due to "fear of retaliation". He added that it is a difficult time to change jobs. The technology industry has already been reshaped by layoffs, cost-cutting and the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence, making career moves harder.
Individuals with extraordinary abilities or whose work advances national interests may qualify for categories that bypass the PERM labour certification process. Applicants can also obtain permanent residency by investing at least $800,000 in eligible US businesses. Gulek warned that some of these categories "could be next in the crosshairs". Chothani said some are so eager to stay in the US that they are considering the EB-5 investor route, but may not have enough capital to invest.
According to the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), nearly one million Indian nationals were waiting for employment-based green cards in December 2025, accounting for 79 per cent of total pending applications. Its report predicts wait times of five to 179 years for highly skilled Indians filing labour certification or employment-based immigration petitions from January 2026, depending on the visa category. Like other recent immigration measures, the PERM suspension could face challenges in federal courts.
