Vance Freezes Green Cards At Microsoft, Adobe, No AI Exemption In Sight

The Trump administration suspended Microsoft, Adobe and six major Indian IT firms from the employment-based green card labor certification program on Oct. 8, citing alleged visa abuse.

Key Takeaways

The Trump administration suspended Microsoft, Adobe and six major Indian IT firms from the PERM labor certification program on Oct. 8
Vice President JD Vance announced the suspension, citing alleged abuse of the foreign worker pipeline for permanent residency petitions
The freeze strands workers already in the pipeline and complicates roles planned to convert from visas to permanent status
TCS, Infosys and Wipro shares rose as much as 5% following company clarifications

Vice President JD Vance announced the suspension, which halts PERM labor certification applications tied to Microsoft, Adobe, Infosys, TCS, Wipro and HCL. The administration alleges the companies abused the foreign worker pipeline that feeds permanent residency petitions, though no AI-specific policy triggered the action.

Why The AI Talent Pipeline Feels The Strain

The enforcement action reaches companies doing some of the country’s largest AI hiring, even though it targets visa fraud broadly rather than AI work specifically. Microsoft and Adobe rely heavily on H-1B visa holders, temporary work permits tied to a specific employer, as a bridge to green card sponsorship for AI researchers, engineers and data scientists.

Also Read: OpenAI, TurbineOne Team Up On AI Tools Built To Work With No Network

For those companies, the operational test is whether “no qualified US worker is available” for a role before a green card petition proceeds. PERM certification is the Department of Labor process requiring that confirmation. That mechanism is now frozen for these firms.

The freeze does not stop AI hiring outright, but it strands workers already in the pipeline and complicates roles the companies planned to convert from visa to permanent status.

Indian IT Firms Shrug Off The Immediate Hit

Markets treated the suspension as less severe than the headlines suggested, TCS, Infosys and Wipro shares rose as much as 5% the following day after company clarifications, according to a report cited among the research notes.

TCS pointed to AI-driven revenue growth in its latest quarter as a bigger issue than the visa freeze, while analysts told Reuters that most US delivery at Indian IT firms now relies on local hiring and automation rather than fresh PERM filings.

Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu urged Indian engineers to return home and build locally, framing the crackdown as an opening rather than a setback. No agency or company has proposed an AI-specific exemption.

USCIS’s internal AI assistant, PAiTH, handles staff workflows rather than policy, according to a DHS use case filing.