IBM Visa Sponsorship Ends for Most Consulting Roles

IBM visa sponsorship is ending for most jobs in IBM Consulting, the company’s services arm, which will no longer sponsor H-1B visas or green cards for the majority of those roles in the United States. An IBM spokesperson confirmed the change to Newsweek on Tuesday, Nov. 10, and Bloomberg News reported, as cited by Newsweek, that affected workers were told they could keep working for IBM outside the country or leave the company at the end of the year.

The decision matters because it comes from one of the best-known corporate users of the high-skilled visa system at a moment when the cost and legal risk of sponsorship are rising on several fronts. For the consultants affected, the practical question is not the policy debate but the calendar: what survives of a pending green card case, and how long they can stay once a job ends.

IBM framed the move as a business call. Its spokesperson said the consulting unit uses the visa programs to address skill shortages and has “opted to discontinue visa and green card sponsorship for the majority of such roles in IBM Consulting,” telling Newsweek that interest had been declining. The company did not say which roles are exempt, and Newsweek reported that it had asked IBM whether current H-1B holders are affected without receiving an answer in its story.

IBM’s H-1B use was already shrinking

Federal data back up the company’s account of a pullback that began well before this week. IBM’s approvals for new H-1B employment fell to 501 in fiscal 2025 from 1,348 a year earlier, according to USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub figures reported by the Business Standard. That is a drop of about 63 percent, a calculation from those figures. Newsweek, citing Labor Department data, reported that IBM applied for more than 1,100 H-1B positions in fiscal 2026; labor condition filings are an early step and do not equal approved petitions.

Fiscal year	IBM initial H-1B employment approvals
FY 2023	979
FY 2024	1,348
FY 2025	501

Source: USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub, fiscal years 2023 to 2025, as reported by the Business Standard (Dec. 2, 2025).

The administration’s October freeze on green card sponsorship at Microsoft, Adobe and six IT firms showed it will cut off individual sponsors. A revised H-1B prevailing wage rule is now at the White House, and DHS has three work-visa proposals in the pipeline, including one that would eliminate the 60-day grace period after a job ends. IBM is also answering a citizenship discrimination complaint before the Justice Department’s hearing office, though nothing ties that case to this decision. A business that places workers at client sites is the model most exposed to wage, fee and placement scrutiny, which likely explains why IBM drew the line at consulting rather than companywide.

What the IBM visa sponsorship cutoff means for affected consultants

An H-1B worker whose employment ends generally gets a grace period of up to 60 days, or until the I-94 expires if sooner, to find a new sponsor, change status or leave, under the DHS regulation at 8 C.F.R. 214.1(l)(2). The employer also owes the reasonable cost of return transportation, and a new employer can file a transfer petition within that window.

The offer to move abroad carries a less obvious option. A worker who spends a continuous year with IBM outside the United States in a qualifying managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge role could later return on an L-1 transfer, which is not subject to the H-1B lottery. It takes time and depends on IBM wanting the worker back, but it keeps open a route that a quick exit would close.

Harder questions about green cards in progress

If IBM withdraws my approved Form I-140, do I lose my priority date?

Generally no. Under 8 C.F.R. 204.5(e)(2), a worker keeps the priority date of an approved I-140 unless USCIS revokes it for fraud, misrepresentation or material error, and an employer’s withdrawal does not take it away. Under 8 C.F.R. 205.1(a)(3)(iii)(C), a petition withdrawn 180 days or more after approval, or after an adjustment application has been pending 180 days, stays valid for limited purposes such as H-1B extensions beyond six years. A new employer would still need to file its own PERM and I-140 to use that date.

My I-485 has been pending more than 180 days. Can I switch employers without IBM?

Usually yes, if the new job is in the same or a similar occupational classification. Section 204(j) of the Immigration and Nationality Act lets an adjustment applicant whose I-485 has been pending 180 days or more, based on an approved or approvable I-140, move to a new job, and USCIS asks for Form I-485 Supplement J to document the new offer. It does not help workers still waiting for a priority date to become current, as many in backlogged categories such as India’s EB-2 and EB-3 lines are.

The open question is reach. “The majority of such roles” leaves room for exceptions, and no one has said how many people are affected. Whether rival consultancies follow, or hire the visa holders IBM lets go, will show whether this is one company’s retreat or a broader shift in how services firms staff U.S. projects.

This article is for general information and is not legal advice.

Sources

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 an LL.M. from California Western School of Law, San Diego 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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