The US suspends Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, and others from a program that lets skilled foreign workers gain permanent residency, citing alleged fraud

US Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday that the federal government was suspending Microsoft from a program …

Reuters 2026-10-08 Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff

Context & Ripple Effects

Microsoft’s exposure to skilled-worker policy had already become operational: the company joined Amazon and Google in advising H-1B holders to return to the US and avoid travel before a 2025 deadline. USCIS data also placed Microsoft among the top 10 H-1B recipients in 2024, making a residency-program suspension consequential beyond a single employer.

The action extends a broader H-1B clampdown that had already prompted tech employers in the UK, Canada and elsewhere to pursue talent. The government cites alleged fraud; the named companies face an immediate restriction rather than an adjudicated finding in the supplied record.

First-order effects

Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys and the other suspended employers lose access to the named skilled-worker permanent-residency channel, disrupting immigration planning for affected foreign workers.
Workers whose employers depend on that channel face less certainty around their route from temporary skilled-worker status to permanent residency.

Second-order effects

Overseas tech employers gain a stronger recruiting argument for skilled workers already unsettled by US immigration restrictions, a dynamic identified in coverage of the international search for talent amid the H-1B clampdown.
Large US tech employers with substantial H-1B populations, including Microsoft, must treat immigration compliance and employee mobility as a more immediate workforce-planning constraint; Microsoft had already issued travel guidance for H-1B holders.

Third-order effects

If suspensions become a recurring enforcement tool, skilled-worker immigration shifts from a hiring input managed largely through employers to a more fragile, compliance-contingent part of tech workforce strategy.
The pattern points toward greater competition among countries for mobile technical talent as US residency pathways become less predictable for workers tied to major technology and IT-services firms.

The trend: US skilled-worker policy is becoming a direct lever on where technology companies recruit, retain and locate internationally mobile talent.

Discussion

@okane.fyi Sean O'Kane on bluesky
but they called it “SI” [embedded post]
@warddpatrick Patrick Ward on x
VP Vance this morning: we have decided to suspend the PERM program for Microsoft...you're a great American company, but you've got to hire great American workers. Later today, President Trump will award Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella National Medal of Technology and Innovation
@bulwarkclips @bulwarkclips on x
Q: “How do you define socialism personally?” Vance: “I think in reality, what it actually means in the American context is that you want to replace American workers with foreign workers, and you want boys to play in girls' sports.”
r/politics r on reddit
US suspends Microsoft, major IT firms from key green card program
r/UpliftingNews r on reddit
US suspends Microsoft, major IT firms from key green card program
@obrien Chris O'Brien on x
Let's build!
Matthew Boyle Matthew Boyle on linkedin
The Trump administration said it would suspend an immigration program for Microsoft and other tech firms, alleging widespread abuse of a worker visa system. …
@marypcbuk Mary Branscombe on bluesky
Who didn't pay Trump enough money/send enough shiny trophies? — H1B probably needs reforming but not like this [embedded post]
@ccpecknold Chad Pecknold on x
“If you do the math, for every worker that Microsoft laid off, they replaced that worker with one and a half foreign indentured servants.” — Vice President J.D. Vance https://apnews.com/...
@jake.sooscreek.productions Jake on bluesky
Uh oh, defense contracts at Microsoft could be taking a turn. Suspended from H1-B to green card applications for fraud 👀
@crampell Catherine Rampell on bluesky
Trump admin is suspending a bunch of tech companies (Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, Capgemini) from participation in the H-1B PERM program, alleging fraud. — Some other tech firms (Apple, Amazon, Google, etc.) notably absent from the list.
r/redmond r on reddit
The Trump administration is suspending Microsoft from a green card program, alleging fraud
@tomwarren Tom Warren on x
on the same day Trump celebrates Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's contributions to the US, the Trump administration has accused Microsoft of abusing the visa system to bring in more foreign workers. Microsoft has now fired back against the accusations https://www.theverge.com/...
@dugalira Ira Dugal on x
Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL and Capgemini among those impacted https://www.reuters.com/...
@amritabhinder Amrita Bhinder on x
US suspending permanent residency program for Microsoft, US Vice President JD Vance said that the federal government was suspending Microsoft from a program that allows skilled foreign workers to gain permanent residency, citing alleged fraud. https://www.reuters.com/...
r/asianamerican r on reddit
Microsoft is being suspended from program to apply for green cards for H-1B visa workers, Vance says
r/Layoffs r on reddit
Microsoft suspended from a green card program, alleging fraud
@jobsnowpr @jobsnowpr on x
@USLaborIG ... Thank you for taking care of Adobe, Microsoft, and the body shops! We've got a list with tons more ideas for you!

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