Published: October 10, 2026
StartupFeed Quick Take
- The US suspended eight firms from the PERM green-card process on October 8, 2026, including TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL and Cognizant.
- Indian IT PERM filings had already fallen to 61 in the first nine months of FY26, from 1,429 a year earlier.
- The freeze blocks new and pending green-card filings for these firms. It does not cancel existing H-1B visas.
The United States suspended eight technology firms from its green-card labour process on October 8, including Indian majors Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro and HCL.
Indian IT PERM filings had already collapsed before the curbs. The four suspended firms recorded just 61 certified cases in the nine months to June 2026.
The count comes from an analysis of US Department of Labor data by The Economic Times. A year earlier, the figure for the top Indian IT companies was 1,429.
That is a fall of about 96% in a single year. The suspension lands on firms that had nearly stopped using the programme.
Indian IT PERM Filings Had Already Collapsed
HCL America filed 59 of the 61 certified cases. TCS filed two.
Infosys and Wipro recorded none in the period. Cognizant recorded none either. Together they certified fewer cases than Adobe alone.
Cognizant still carries a large backlog. By October 8, the data show, it had about 1,831 pending PERM cases on hold. Its new filings were paused in September during a federal fraud investigation.
PERM certification sets a priority date for an employee’s green card. Without a new filing, affected workers cannot lock one in.
The table below sets the suspended firms side by side. Microsoft, the largest filer in the country, sits far above the Indian IT majors. It filed about 27 times as many certified cases as the four Indian firms combined.
| Company | Certified PERM cases (9M FY26) |
|---|---|
| Microsoft | 1,680 |
| Adobe | 183 |
| HCL (HCL America) | 59 |
| TCS | 2 |
| Infosys | 0 |
| Wipro | 0 |
| Cognizant | 0 |
TCS Says the Freeze Will Not Hurt Its Business
TCS said the move would not change how it runs or how it delivers client projects. Its chief executive, K Krithivasan, said its filings to convert H-1B holders into green-card holders had stayed in single digits each year for two years.
He put the scale of it plainly.
“We have close to 40,000 people in the US, and more than 50 of them are permanent residents or citizens.”
K Krithivasan, chief executive officer, TCS. From The Economic Times, October 9, 2026.
The firm employs its US staff mainly to run projects for American clients. Few of the firms’ workers move from an H-1B visa to a green card through PERM.
The Indian majors have also hired more staff locally in the US in recent years.
Markets agreed. The Nifty IT index rose more than 3% on October 9, its best day since late August, and TCS shares gained 4.2%.
What the US Freeze Does to Green Cards
The US Department of Labor will not accept new PERM applications for the eight firms. It will not process their pending ones either. US Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling announced the step on October 8.
PERM is the labour step a US employer must clear before it sponsors a worker for most green cards. The employer has to show the hire will not hurt the pay or job chances of American workers. It is separate from the H-1B work visa.
The freeze does not cancel H-1B visas. It does not revoke green cards that are already approved.
It pauses the green-card step only for new or pending cases. Officials cited investigations by the department’s inspector general and set no end date.
India said the freeze would not, by itself, affect existing H-1B visas or the status of their holders and dependents. It said the step could still affect eligible employees’ green-card applications.
On the H-1B visa itself, US data ranked Amazon the biggest employer in FY26, ahead of TCS and Infosys.
Food and Seafood Firms Lead PERM, Not Indian IT
The numbers do not fit the idea of Indian IT firms as the heavy users of PERM. Of the 15 largest filers in FY26, 10 sat outside tech, in food, meat and seafood.
Microsoft was the only technology firm among the five biggest filers, with 3,153 cases. Food company FPL Food came next with 2,260.
Seafood producer Consolidated Catfish Producers filed 1,733. JCG Foods of Georgia and South Georgia Pecan each filed 1,387.
The pattern held in the nine months to June 2026. Microsoft filed 1,680 cases.
The healthcare firm Management Health Systems filed 1,393. Adobe filed 183, and 182 were certified.
The administration framed the move as protecting American jobs. It said the eight firms had sought almost three million foreign workers since 2009. They had won more than 230,000 H-1B approvals and over 100,000 green-card certifications in that time.
The administration still put Microsoft at the centre of its case. It said the firm laid off 6,000 American workers in 2025 while filing 3,682 PERM applications. Nearly 1,000 of those were for the same roles as the laid-off staff.
Microsoft said most of its US employees are American, and that most of its visa filings aimed to keep existing staff, not to hire.
What this means for you: If you work in the US for TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL or Cognizant and await a green card through PERM, this freeze stalls that step. Existing H-1B visas and approved green cards are not cancelled, so check your case stage with your employer before you make any move.
StartupFeed Insight
The suspension is loud, but for the Indian majors it is mostly symbolic. They had already cut certified PERM filings to 61, so the direct hit is small. The real cost falls on individual employees whose green-card cases are now frozen mid-process, and on Cognizant, which has about 1,831 cases on hold. Watch the Labor Department’s written notice and the 180-day pause it can run under its existing rules. Expect at least one of the eight firms to challenge the freeze in court before the end of 2026 if no formal order and evidence follow.
By Saraswati Chaubey, Writer
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