Four Indian IT Firms in the PERM Freeze had only 61 Applications this Year out of More Than 104,000

Labor Department data show the four Indian outsourcing firms caught in the PERM suspension barely use the green card program at all, and Infosys says it expects no material impact. The people with the most at stake are individual workers with cases already in the queue, most of them at the other four employers.

Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro and HCLTech, four of the eight employers the Labor Department suspended from the PERM labor certification program on Oct. 8, together received just 61 certified PERM cases in fiscal 2026, according to an analysis of department data published Oct. 10 by The Economic Times. Over roughly the same period, the department certified 104,028 PERM applications nationwide, which means the four firms accounted for about 0.06 percent of all certifications, by Immigration Analytics’ calculation. The figures, together with an Oct. 10 exchange filing in which Infosys said it “does not anticipate a material impact” from the suspension, point to a conclusion that matters for anyone deciding what to do next: the freeze is a minor event for the business models of India’s outsourcing giants and a serious one for the individual employees, at all eight companies, whose green card cases are now on hold.

That distinction explains why the reaction in India has split. The Ministry of External Affairs objected sharply on Oct. 9 to Vice President JD Vance’s language about foreign workers, and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said a day later that fewer H-1B visas would be good for India, as this site reported. Neither statement addressed the workers whose cases are frozen. The data suggest one reason the companies themselves can absorb the blow: by these figures, the Indian firms rely on H-1B staffing and seldom sponsor employees for permanent residence, so they have little PERM business to lose. That is our reading of the numbers. The employees who were counting on a PERM filing, by contrast, lose time and possibly a place in line.

Eight names, very different exposure

Treating the eight suspended employers as one group hides how unevenly the suspension falls. The four Indian firms make up half the list but a tiny share of the program. The other four, Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant and Capgemini, have not had their PERM volumes broken out in any official release, and the Labor Department has not said how many pending applications the suspension froze. Vance said at the Oct. 8 White House briefing that Microsoft received 6,300 H-1B visas and nearly 3,000 green cards in a year in which it laid off 6,000 American workers, GeekWire reported. In its response, Microsoft said about 80 percent of its roughly 6,000 H-1B filings last fiscal year were extensions or status changes for people already on its payroll, and that it looked forward to “providing the Administration with additional information.”

If Vance’s green card figure is close to accurate, Microsoft alone obtains many times more green cards for its workers than the four Indian firms combined. That is an inference from the numbers officials and reporters have put on the record, not a count from the Labor Department, which publishes employer-level PERM disclosure files but has not released a tally tied to the suspension. Cognizant is a separate case: it was already locked out. The Labor Department’s inspector general, Anthony D’Esposito, announced on Sept. 8 that PERM filings by Cognizant and the software company Cloudera were suspended, according to the Press Trust of India.

Infosys, for its part, told Indian stock exchanges on Oct. 10 that it “does not anticipate a material impact” and that it would “welcome the opportunity to work with the Department of Labor” and other agencies to answer their questions, Reuters reported. For a publicly traded company, “material” is a judgment about revenue and earnings. It says nothing about the handful of employees whose cases were in the pipeline.

What the regulation allows, and what officials have not said

Officials announced the suspension at a press conference, and as of Oct. 11 the Labor Department had published no written notice, Federal Register document or guidance explaining its legal basis or how long it will last. The rule that most closely matches what was described is 20 CFR 656.31(b). It allows the department to suspend processing of any labor certification application tied to an employer, attorney or agent under investigation for possible fraud or willful misrepresentation. The first suspension may last up to 180 days, after which the National Certifying Officer can resume processing or extend the suspension depending on whether an indictment has been returned or the case has concluded. A separate provision, 656.31(f), allows the department to debar an employer for up to three years.

If 656.31(b) is the authority, the arithmetic is simple. A 180-day suspension starting Oct. 8 would run to April 6, 2027, and Cognizant’s, which began Sept. 8, to March 7, 2027, by Immigration Analytics’ count. Both could be extended. But the department has not cited that section. Until a written notice appears, any end date is a guess.

Can the companies challenge the suspension in court?

They could bring a case under the Administrative Procedure Act, but none had been reported as of Oct. 11, and the public responses suggest the companies are choosing cooperation. Infosys says it welcomes the chance to work with the department, and Microsoft says it will provide more information. In our assessment, that posture makes sense for firms facing a parallel Justice Department inquiry: a lawsuit over processing delays can look like a fight over the underlying allegations. Workers whose cases are frozen have their own potential claims, but no such case had been reported either.

Some of the Companies H-1bs are indeed impacted:

Although some of the companies are saying they are not impacted, they are actually impacted by DHS not adjudicating the H-1b petitions especially of Cognizant, Cloudera, Infosys and to some extent Microsoft. This information we have obtained from employees who are employed with these companies on H-1b. This means some of the employees will lose work authorization if the investigation does not conclude and the H-1b petitions don’t continue to be adjudicated.

What to watch

• A written Labor Department notice naming the legal authority, the scope and any end date for the suspension.
• The Federal Register public inspection list, next posted Tuesday, Oct. 13, after the Columbus Day holiday.
• The November 2026 Visa Bulletin, which the State Department had not released as of Oct. 11.
• Company filings and statements from the other seven employers, especially any that quantify how many pending PERM cases are affected.

Immigration Analytics will update this story as the Labor Department publishes written guidance and the companies disclose more. This article is for general information and is not legal advice. The situation is changing quickly, so please consult an immigration attorney about your specific case.

Sources

• US green card freeze: TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCLTech had just 61 certified PERM cases in FY26 (The Economic Times, Oct. 10, 2026)
• India’s Infosys does not expect material impact from US PERM suspension (Reuters, Oct. 10, 2026)
• Microsoft responds to Trump administration accusation that it abuses foreign worker programs (GeekWire, Oct. 2026)
• US suspends PERM filings by Cognizant, Cloudera (Press Trust of India via ThePrint, Sept. 9, 2026)
• PERM Selected Statistics, FY 2026 Q3 (U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Foreign Labor Certification, data as of June 30, 2026)
• Processing Times (U.S. Department of Labor, FLAG, as of Oct. 5, 2026)
• 20 CFR 656.31, Labor certification applications involving fraud or willful misrepresentation; debarment
• 8 CFR 204.5, Petitions for employment-based immigrants (priority date retention)
• Visa Bulletin for October 2026 (U.S. Department of State)
• Washington Freezes Green-Card Sponsorship at Microsoft, Adobe and Six IT Giants (Immigration Analytics, Oct. 8, 2026)

About the Author

Vasanth Vaidyanathan, Esq.

Administrator

Vasanth Vaidyanathan is an immigration attorney with over 20 years of experience focused exclusively on U.S. immigration and nationality law. He holds a LL.M. from California Western School of Law, San Deigo and advises individuals and businesses on employment and family-based immigration matters, including H-1B, PERM, EB categories, and adjustment of status. He has also been a featured speaker at immigration seminars across the U.S. To reach Vasanth visit: https://www.vnathan.com/

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