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On October 8, 2026, Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling announced that six IT outsourcing firms, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL and Capgemini, were suspended from the U.S. Permanent Labor Certification Program (PERM). Microsoft and Adobe were also suspended, with active federal investigations cited for those two companies. The suspension bars the named firms from making new PERM filings while it remains in force. It restricts one employer-led step of the green-card process. It is not a ban on H-1B visas, and the available reporting does not establish that existing green-card cases are cancelled.
The headline’s “TCS” refers to Tata Consultancy Services. The announcement itself listed the company as “Tata.”
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Which companies were named, and on what stated basis
The announcement named eight companies in total. Only six were described as IT outsourcing firms. The table below separates the two groups as the official announcement and coverage described them. The stated reasons are the administration’s allegations, not findings of misconduct by a court or agency.
| Company | Named in Sonderling’s list of IT outsourcing firms | Basis as stated in reporting |
|---|---|---|
| Cognizant | Yes | Administration cites alleged fraud and misuse of foreign-worker programs |
| Infosys | Yes | Same general rationale |
| Tata (Tata Consultancy Services) | Yes | Same general rationale |
| Wipro | Yes | Same general rationale |
| HCL | Yes | Same general rationale |
| Capgemini | Yes | Same general rationale |
| Microsoft | No | Active federal investigation cited |
| Adobe | No | Active federal investigation cited |
Reporting on the announcement is documented in The Indian Express explainer, updated October 9, 2026, and in The Associated Press report of October 8, 2026.
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What PERM is, and why it is not an H-1B visa
PERM stands for Program Electronic Review Management. It is the labor-certification step that an employer generally files before sponsoring a worker for an employment-based green card. Before filing, the employer obtains a prevailing-wage determination and runs prescribed recruitment. The process is designed to test whether hiring a foreign worker would adversely affect U.S. workers. Once certification is granted, the employer can move on to the next stage of green-card sponsorship.
H-1B is a different category. It is a temporary nonimmigrant work visa. The two are often discussed together because many Indian IT employees hold H-1B status while waiting in the green-card queue, but they are separate steps.
| Feature | PERM labor certification | H-1B |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Employer labor-certification step in employment-based permanent-residency sponsorship | Temporary nonimmigrant work visa category |
| Main requirements | Prevailing-wage determination and prescribed recruitment | Not described in the reporting as affected by the October 8 action |
| Effect of the October 8, 2026 action | Suspended firms cannot make new PERM filings while the restriction is in force | Not established as suspended; reporting does not show automatic termination of H-1B status |
What the suspension does, and what it does not establish
The reported immediate effect is a halt to new PERM filings by the named firms. Coverage says this may delay workers who have not yet reached the PERM stage, because the filing is what begins their place in the permanent-residency queue.
The available reporting does not establish that all pending or approved cases are cancelled. It also does not establish that H-1B status is automatically ended. It does not describe the formal legal instrument behind the suspension, its full terms, its duration, or an appeal path. Readers should treat any claim that goes beyond “no new PERM filings while the restriction stands” as unverified until the U.S. Department of Labor publishes its own notice.
Effects by case stage
Consequences depend on where a worker’s case stands. The reporting does not establish the treatment of each stage under the new suspension, so the table describes what is known and what to check.
| Case stage | Reported effect | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| PERM not yet filed, employer is a named firm | New PERM filing is halted while the restriction is in force; start may be delayed | Whether the employer is on the list; alternative sponsorship timelines with qualified counsel |
| PERM filed and pending | Not stated in the available reporting | Current case status and any notices from the employer’s immigration counsel |
| PERM certified | Not stated as cancelled; the certification stage is what gives the worker a place in line | Certification date and the next green-card stage |
| H-1B extension or change of status | Depends on whether and when labor certification was filed; case-specific | Expiry date of current H-1B status and filing history with counsel |
How the queue position works
Coverage explains that the labor-certification acceptance date generally becomes the worker’s priority date, which sets their place in the employment-based immigrant-visa queue. A later priority date means a longer wait. This is why a delay in filing can cost time even when the eventual green card is not in question.
The Indian Express reports that the September 2026 Visa Bulletin from the U.S. Department of State showed India EB-2 final action as “unavailable” and the EB-3 final-action date as January 1, 2014. Those dates apply to the bulletin month and are not a forecast. Workers whose priority date is later than the listed final-action date must wait for the date to advance.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What officials say, and what they have not shown
Labor Secretary Sonderling described the suspensions as an effort to stop fraud and prioritize U.S. workers. In the October 8 announcement he said he was “hereby suspending from the Permanent Labor Certification Program some of the largest IT outsourcing firms in the world — Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini.”
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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Vice President JD Vance argued that employers advertise positions, report that no U.S. applicants respond, and then use that result to hire foreign workers in place of American workers. As reported by AP, he described the workers as “foreign indentured servants.” That is his characterization, not a neutral description of the legal standard.
These are stated claims. The available reporting does not include formal findings that the named firms committed fraud, and it does not publish the underlying suspension document.
Figures to read carefully
The Indian Express quotes Sonderling as saying the affected companies had requested permanent residency for almost 3 million foreign workers since 2009, received more than 230,000 H-1B approvals, and received more than 100,000 permanent labor certifications. These are official figures as quoted in that article. The dataset and definitions behind them were not published in the available reporting.
The terms are not interchangeable. A permanent-residency request, an H-1B approval, and a labor certification each count a different event, and none of them is a count of unique workers or jobs.
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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11Microsoft offered its own figure to AP. The company said about 80% of roughly 6,000 H-1B applications in the prior fiscal year were to extend or change the status of existing employees. That is Microsoft’s statement about its own filings. It does not describe other employers.
What remains unknown, and what to do now
- The formal legal instrument and complete suspension terms.
- How long the restriction lasts and what appeal route, if any, is available.
- Employer-specific counts of affected applications. The Indian Express notes that an earlier Cognizant suspension did not publicly specify its duration or affected application count.
- Treatment of each pending PERM case.
Workers with an active case or an H-1B expiry approaching should speak with qualified immigration counsel about their specific stage and dates. This article is general reporting, not legal advice for an individual case. Check the U.S. Department of Labor for later notices, and watch for court filings, since this is a developing action.
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