Trump Administration Bars Microsoft, Adobe From Green Card Program

Eight companies, including Microsoft and Adobe, can no longer file new or pending green card paperwork for skilled foreign workers, the Trump administration announced Thursday, citing fraud allegations tied to a federal labor certification process, according to TechCrunch.

Which 8 companies are affected?

The suspended firms are Microsoft, Adobe, Capgemini, Cognizant, HCL, Infosys, Tata, and Wipro, TechCrunch reported. Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling said the Labor Department will not accept any new or pending permanent labor certification applications tied to these companies. That certification — known in federal rulemaking as a PERM filing — is the first step an employer must clear before sponsoring a foreign worker for a green card, so a suspension effectively freezes that pathway for the named firms until the matter is resolved.

What does the government say the companies did?

The administration has accused the eight companies of fraud in connection with the certification process, though the TechCrunch report does not detail the specific allegations against each firm. Vice President JD Vance framed the action during a Thursday news conference as a jobs message rather than a narrow enforcement matter. "Our message to Microsoft is: You're a great American company, but you've got to hire great American workers," Vance said, according to Reuters by way of TechCrunch.

How many H-1B visas does Microsoft actually file, and for whom?

Microsoft's response leans entirely on its own visa numbers. A company spokesperson told TechCrunch that of roughly 6,000 H-1B applications Microsoft submitted in the last fiscal year, 80% were extensions or status changes for existing Microsoft employees — not new hires. The remaining filings, the company said, covered people already legally present in the United States who chose to join Microsoft, and that group equals just 1% of its U.S. workforce. "These were not to hire new people," the company's statement said. "They are not new arrivals to our country." Microsoft also said it pays H-1B employees the same as other employees doing comparable work and that "the vast majority" of its U.S. employees are Americans.

Adobe did not immediately respond to a request for comment, TechCrunch reported.

Why does India factor so heavily into this story?

The H-1B program is designed for highly skilled roles that employers say they struggle to fill with U.S. workers, and technology companies are among its heaviest users. Nearly three-quarters of approved H-1B visas go to workers from India, TechCrunch reported, citing the Associated Press. That concentration is part of why the inclusion of Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Cognizant — firms with large India-based outsourcing and staffing operations — carries particular weight for the Indian IT services sector, which has long relied on the visa pipeline to place workers with U.S. clients.

What else did Vance announce at the same briefing?

The suspension announcement came alongside a separate move: Vance said the administration would investigate nine universities, including Harvard, Yale, and Stanford, over allegations that international student programs at those schools are being used to undermine wages for American workers, according to TechCrunch. No further detail on the scope or timeline of that university inquiry was provided in the available reporting.

What happens next for affected applicants?

TechCrunch's report does not specify a duration for the suspension, an appeals process, or whether workers with pending applications at the eight named companies will see their cases returned, denied, or simply held. The Labor Department's stated position — that it will not accept new or pending permanent labor certification applications from these firms — leaves open whether the freeze extends to green card sponsorships that were already deep in the pipeline before Thursday's announcement, or whether it functions purely as a bar on new filings going forward. Microsoft has said it will provide the administration with additional information, suggesting the company expects the matter to be reviewed rather than treated as final. Adobe's position remains unstated. For the five India-focused IT services firms on the list — Capgemini, Cognizant, HCL, Infosys, Tata, and Wipro — the practical effect on existing client staffing arrangements in the U.S. was not addressed in the reporting reviewed for this story.