Vice President JD Vance announced Thursday that Microsoft, Adobe, and other tech companies are being suspended from the PERM program, the Department of Labor process employers use to sponsor green cards for H-1B visa holders. Vance made the announcement at a White House event tied to the administration's Fraud Task Force, framing the move as a response to companies that laid off American workers while continuing to seek foreign labor.
Vance singled out Microsoft by name, saying the company had cut thousands of jobs over the past year while still filing H-1B and green card sponsorship requests. The administration described the action as an extension of an existing crackdown that previously targeted Cognizant and Cloudera. As of Thursday, no regulation, Federal Register notice, or Department of Labor memorandum describing the legal mechanism behind the suspensions had been made public, leaving the scope, duration, and appeal process unconfirmed.
What Vance Announced
At the White House event, Vance said companies found to be using the employment-based green card pathway to retain access to foreign labor while cutting domestic staff would lose access to PERM. PERM, short for Program Electronic Review Management, is the Department of Labor's system for certifying that no qualified American worker is available for a position before an employer sponsors a foreign worker for a green card.
Vance directed his sharpest remarks at Microsoft specifically, saying the company had laid off workers even as it kept applying for H-1B visas and the green cards that often follow them. He said the administration's message to Microsoft and any other company, foreign or domestic, was that it needed to prioritize American hires going forward.
The Companies Named
Microsoft and Adobe were the two companies named directly in connection with Thursday's suspension. The announcement also referenced Cognizant and Cloudera as companies previously hit by related enforcement actions, positioning the new suspensions as part of a continuing effort rather than an isolated incident.
Officials did not provide a complete list of every company affected beyond these four, and Vance's remarks referred more broadly to "any other foreign or domestic corporation" that might fall under the same scrutiny.
Understanding the PERM Process
PERM certification is typically the first formal step in employer-sponsored green card cases for workers already in H-1B status, a temporary visa category for specialty-occupation roles often used in technology, engineering, and similar fields. Before an employer can petition for a worker's permanent residency, it must generally test the labor market and obtain a labor certification showing that hiring the foreign worker will not displace qualified U.S. workers.
Because PERM functions as a gateway to permanent residency, a suspension at this stage would affect new sponsorship filings. Whether it also affects applications already filed and pending has not been addressed in the available record.
Stated Rationale and Unverified Allegations
Vance's public comments framed the suspensions as a response to a perceived pattern: companies laying off American employees while continuing to rely on the H-1B and green card pipeline for foreign labor. He argued that firms benefiting from U.S. markets and American investment should be expected to prioritize American workers in hiring.
These are characterized in available reporting as statements made at a press event rather than findings from a published investigation, audit, or formal agency determination. No independently verified data on Microsoft's or Adobe's hiring and layoff patterns, nor any adjudicated fraud finding, accompanied the announcement.
What Remains Unconfirmed
Several procedural questions are not addressed in the available record. There is no confirmation of the specific legal or regulatory authority the administration used to suspend named companies from PERM, nor whether the action was implemented through rulemaking, internal guidance, or another mechanism.
It is also unclear whether H-1B workers who already have PERM applications pending with Microsoft, Adobe, or the other named companies will lose their place in the process, face delays, or continue unaffected. No appeal or reinstatement procedure for suspended companies has been described.
Pending Responses
Outreach for comment was sent to Microsoft and Adobe Thursday morning. As of the initial reporting, neither company had issued a public response to the suspension announcement.
Clinch Law Legal Analysis
Sources
This article provides general information and does not constitute legal advice. Immigration outcomes depend on individual facts and current law.
A single news report describes Vice President JD Vance announcing that Microsoft, Adobe, and other tech companies are being suspended from using the PERM program to sponsor green cards for H-1B employees, with officials citing layoffs of American workers alongside continued foreign hiring. If you or your employer use PERM to sponsor an employment-based green card, this reporting signals a reason to pause and seek updated guidance before filing or relying on a pending filing, because the article does not identify any published rule, regulation, or agency notice implementing the suspension, who exactly is covered, or how long it will last.
The report quotes Vance's public remarks but does not describe a Federal Register notice, Department of Labor regulation, or litigation record establishing the legal mechanism for suspending a named company from PERM. Without that underlying text, it is not possible to verify the suspension's legal basis, scope, appeal process, or effect on workers already in the pipeline. The strongest reading of the available evidence is that this was an administration policy announcement at a press event rather than a published final rule; the competing possibility, that formal DOL action already exists but was not covered in this article, cannot be confirmed or ruled out here. Anyone affected should wait for official DOL or USCIS guidance before assuming their case is paused, denied, or unaffected.
Questions Clients Are Asking#
Is Microsoft actually banned from sponsoring green cards for H-1B workers right now?
A news report states that Vice President JD Vance announced Microsoft is being suspended from the PERM program, which is used to sponsor green cards for H-1B visa holders. The article does not include the text of any formal agency action, regulation, or Federal Register notice implementing this suspension, so the precise legal status, scope, and duration cannot be confirmed from this source alone.
Which companies besides Microsoft and Adobe are affected by this PERM suspension?
The reporting names Microsoft and Adobe specifically as companies suspended from the PERM program, and references prior enforcement actions against Cognizant and Cloudera as part of a broader H-1B fraud crackdown. The article does not provide a complete list of affected companies or explain the criteria used to select them, so the full scope of this action is not established by the available record.
What happens to H-1B workers who already have a PERM application pending with one of these companies?
The available reporting does not address whether H-1B workers with pending PERM applications at Microsoft, Adobe, or other named companies will lose their place in the process, face delays, or remain unaffected. This is an open question that the current record does not resolve, and workers in this situation should seek updated agency guidance rather than assuming any particular outcome.
Can a company appeal or get reinstated after being suspended from the PERM program?
The news report does not describe any appeal process, reinstatement procedure, or administrative review mechanism for companies suspended from PERM. It also does not identify the specific legal authority the administration relied on to impose the suspension. Until official Department of Labor or related agency guidance is published, there is no verified information establishing whether or how a company could challenge or reverse this status.
Why did the administration single out Microsoft for this action?
According to the reported remarks, Vance said Microsoft had laid off thousands of workers in the past year while continuing to apply for H-1B visas and related green cards, and he stated the company needed to 'hire great American workers.' The article presents this as the administration's stated rationale but does not include any independently verified data, investigation findings, or formal agency determination supporting the allegation.