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US Suspends Major Tech Firms From PERM Green Card Programme

US Suspends Major Tech Firms From PERM Green Card Programme
US Suspends Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL, Cognizant From Green Card Programme; Alleges Visa Fraud · news18.com

The US has paused a process that companies use when helping some foreign workers apply for green cards.

The process is called PERM.

The government says the pause is connected to an investigation into possible misuse of work and immigration programmes.

Vice President JD Vance announced action against Microsoft and said companies should hire more American workers.

The Labour Department named several other technology companies affected, including Infosys and Cognizant.

PERM is different from the H-1B visa, which lets skilled foreign workers work in the US temporarily.

The article says the pause does not automatically cancel green card cases that have already been approved.

But people hoping to begin new employer-sponsored applications may face uncertainty.

Key facts

Programme
PERM (Program Electronic Review Management), a labour certification process used before sponsorship for certain employment-based green cards.
Companies named
Microsoft, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, Capgemini and Adobe.
Announced by
US Vice President JD Vance announced the action against Microsoft.
Government agency
The US Labour Department said the suspension covers additional major IT companies.
Investigation
The article describes an ongoing investigation into alleged fraud or misuse of H-1B and employment-based labour programmes.
H-1B distinction
The H-1B is a temporary work visa; PERM is a labour certification process associated with certain permanent-residency applications.
Existing cases
The article says the suspension of new PERM filings does not automatically cancel existing approved green card cases.

Quotes

JD Vance

US vice president who announced the action against Microsoft

“Thanks to an ongoing investigation, we have decided to suspend the PERM program for Microsoft, which means they will no longer be able to take those H1Bs and apply for permanent resident status within the United States of America”
news18.com

Sources

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