What We Know About the White House's Microsoft Visa Block

Microsoft and seven other companies will no longer have new or pending applications processed under the federal Permanent Labor Certification Program, Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling said Thursday, a move that effectively blocks the firms from sponsoring certain foreign workers for permanent U.S. residency, according to the BBC.

What exactly did the Labor Department do?

Sonderling said the government will stop processing PERM filings from Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL and Capgemini. PERM is the step that typically follows an H-1B visa when a worker seeks a green card; blocking it does not cancel existing H-1B status but halts the path to permanent residency for new or pending cases tied to those employers. Sonderling said at the same event that companies like Microsoft, along with some U.S. universities, have become "visa mills" that were "flooding" the country with foreign workers, the BBC reported.

Why did Vice-President Vance target Microsoft specifically?

Vance accused Microsoft and the other named firms of committing fraud through the H-1B program and the PERM process, saying the company has replaced American workers with "foreign indentured servants," according to the BBC. He said Microsoft laid off about 6,000 workers while filing 6,800 H-1B applications over the same period, calling it evidence the company used foreign hires to undercut wages. "No company in the US has abused this system more than Microsoft," Vance said.

"No company in the US has abused this system more than Microsoft." — Vice-President JD Vance, Oct. 8

How does Microsoft dispute the characterization?

A Microsoft spokeswoman told the BBC that 80% of the company's H-1B filings in the last fiscal year covered employees already on staff, not new hires, and that H-1B workers are paid the same as comparable U.S. employees. "The vast majority of Microsoft employees in the United States are Americans," she said, noting the company employs more than 200,000 people worldwide. She added Microsoft "look[s] forward to providing the Administration with additional information." Ellis, a firm that helps tech companies with skilled-worker hiring, told the BBC the median salary for an H-1B worker at Microsoft is $155,000.

How many H-1B visas are issued each year?

The H-1B program, the standard visa category for specialized foreign workers and a prerequisite for the PERM process, is capped at 85,000 visas annually, according to U.S. government figures cited by the BBC.

What happened at the White House the same day?

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was at the White House Thursday to receive a National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Trump, who called it "so well-deserved," the BBC reported. Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, Lisa Su, Sergey Brin and Michael Dell also received medals and had attended other recent White House events.

Glossary

• H-1B visa: A temporary visa for specialized foreign workers, capped at 85,000 new visas per year.
• PERM: The Labor Department certification process employers use to sponsor a foreign worker for a permanent U.S. green card, typically after H-1B status.
• Visa mill: Sonderling's term for employers or universities he says use visa programs to bring in large numbers of foreign workers rather than hire domestically.

The BBC said it has contacted all eight named companies for comment beyond Microsoft's response.

Artiglio is A coming-soon iPhone chief of staff for briefings and drafts. Not on the App Store yet.