PERM Suspension 2026: Full List of Companies and What Applicants Should Do

As of October 8, 2026, PERM processing has been suspended for eight companies — Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL, and Cap Gemini — for a period officials declined to specify at the briefing, saying only that it would last “as long as necessary” for the investigation.

In short

• Eight companies are affected by the PERM suspension: Microsoft, Adobe, and six IT outsourcing firms — Cognizant, Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL, and Cap Gemini.
• Both new and already-filed applications are frozen — no specific end date has been set.
• The October decision is the fourth stage since May 2026: Cloudera and Cognizant were affected earlier.
• A parallel investigation into J-1 visas has opened at nine universities over underpaying workers by $20,000.
• An already-approved I-140 is not affected by the suspension — it falls under USCIS, not the Department of Labor.

Which Companies Are Affected by the PERM Suspension

Vice President Vance announced the suspension of PERM processing for eight companies. Two of them are technology firms, Microsoft and Adobe, cited in connection with several ongoing federal investigations. The remaining six are IT outsourcing companies: Cognizant, Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL, and Cap Gemini.

The formal reasoning differs between the two groups. For Microsoft and Adobe, the suspension is tied to active federal investigations, while the outsourcing companies were added to the list as a category — without a separate mention of investigations targeting them individually.

The formal reasoning differs between the two groups. For Microsoft and Adobe, the suspension is tied to active federal investigations, while the outsourcing companies were added to the list as a category — without a separate mention of investigations targeting them individually.

All eight companies have stopped accepting new PERM applications. This applies equally to the technology firms and the outsourcing firms — the restriction covers the entire list, with no exceptions within it.

What Exactly Is Suspended, and for How Long

The suspension covers two processes at once. First, new PERM applications from the eight companies are no longer being accepted. Second, applications already filed and in process have been frozen — the department has stopped reviewing them.

No exact end date was given. The phrasing used at the briefing was that the measure would remain in effect “for as long as necessary,” with no specific expiration date.

The phrasing used at the briefing was that the measure would remain in effect “for as long as necessary,” with no specific expiration date.

Legally, this is described as a suspension pending investigation, not a final determination — no findings of fraud or formal charges have been announced yet. That means the matter could eventually end in litigation or in a settlement; which path it takes was not known at the time of the announcement.

Timeline: How the PERM Suspension Has Unfolded Since May 2026

The suspension of eight companies in October is not an isolated decision — it’s the fourth stage in a chain of enforcement actions stretching back to May 2026.

1. May 12, 2026 — PERM processing suspended for Cloudera, for approximately 180 days.
2. July 2026 — the Department of Labor’s Inspector General opened a nationwide investigation into H-1B and PERM fraud.
3. September 2026 — PERM applications suspended for two more companies, Cognizant and Cloudera.
4. October 8, 2026, exactly one month after the September action — the suspension was extended to eight additional companies, while a separate review of J-1 programs began at nine universities.

A suspension like this is triggered by an open investigation — by the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, or another agency — and formally remains in effect until that investigation concludes. That sets it apart from debarment, which the Department of Labor publishes on its website as a separate, standalone action.

The order in which companies were restricted was: Cloudera first, then Cognizant, and only after that the eight companies announced in October.

J-1 Visa Investigation at Nine Universities

The same briefing also announced an investigation into the J-1 program at nine universities — a separate matter from the eight-company suspension.

• Universities named: Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Brown, University of Pittsburgh, UC Davis, Caltech, Arizona State, MIT.
• The core allegation: J-1 workers at these universities — a visa category for scholarly and research exchange — were paid, on average, $20,000 less than the expected salary.
• The department’s argument: underpaying these workers effectively shuts out American workers who would otherwise be offered the same positions.
• Why grants are part of this: the programs that bring in J-1 workers at these universities are funded by federal grants — and, by the department’s logic, grant funding cannot be used to hire foreign workers below market rate.

J-1 workers at these universities — a visa category for scholarly and research exchange — were paid, on average, $20,000 less than the expected salary.

The investigation was launched at all nine universities simultaneously, not selectively one at a time. No official FAQ from the Department of Labor on this matter had been published at the time of the announcement.

The Numbers From the Briefing: Hiring, Pay, and Fraud Figures

A large set of figures was presented at the briefing — all of them attributed to Vice President Vance and Labor Secretary Scholderling, without independent confirmation from the companies named and without verification by independent sources. One figure in particular stands out: the claimed 6,000 Microsoft layoffs has not been confirmed by any independent source and needs verification before it can be treated as established.

Metric	Figure
Microsoft layoffs of US workers over the past year	6,000
H-1B visa holders hired by Microsoft	6,300
Microsoft green card (PERM) petitions filed	approximately 3,000
Ratio of foreign hires to each layoff	1.5x
Companies suspended since 2009	8
Foreign worker requests filed by these companies since 2009	approximately 3 million
Approved H-1B visas	230,000
Approved PERM applications	approximately 100,000
Pay gap for H-1B workers versus expected salary	$20,000 lower
Pay gap for workers hired through outsourcing firms	$48,000 lower
Pay gap for J-1 workers at universities	$20,000 lower
Fraud uncovered by the Visa Fraud Strike Team	approximately $20 billion
Indictments	179
Convictions	233
Amount returned to taxpayers	over $1 billion

It was also noted separately that Microsoft had made no official comment on these figures — neither confirming nor disputing them as of the briefing.

What to Do If You Work at One of the Eight Companies

The Department of Labor has not yet issued an official FAQ on the consequences for applicants — the agency hasn’t published guidance of its own, so what follows is an early reading of the situation that should be confirmed with an immigration attorney.

Green card stage	What happens
PERM not yet filed	A PERM application cannot be filed with any of the eight companies until the investigation concludes
PERM pending	Processing is on hold until the freeze is lifted; no timeline has been given
PERM approved, I-140 not yet filed	An approved PERM can generally still be used to file an I-140 — but this is an early read based on the Cognizant case and needs confirmation from an attorney
I-140 filed and approved	Status is not affected: I-140 falls under USCIS, not the Department of Labor, and the PERM suspension does not reach it

Current H-1B status is not affected by the suspension: there is no ban on H-1B for employees of these eight companies, and the status itself continues to run as before. If an I-140 has already been approved, that also does not cancel a current H-1B.

The harder situation is for those approaching the six-year H-1B limit: AC21 extensions rely on a filed PERM or I-140, and if those are stuck pending because of the freeze, that extension path isn’t available. In that case, checking the exact dates and talking it through with an immigration attorney is the step — the source material doesn’t offer a one-size-fits-all answer here.

If a PERM has already been approved by one of the eight companies, it’s worth discussing an I-140 filing with the employer — that’s still possible, since the I-140 itself is not covered by the suspension.

Frequently asked questions

Can I still be hired on H-1B at one of these eight companies if their PERM is frozen?

Yes. The suspension only affects PERM green card processing, not hiring or current H-1B status. Employees at these companies continue working on H-1B as before — the restriction doesn’t prohibit new hiring on this visa.

Can I switch employers if my PERM is currently frozen at one of the eight companies?

The source material doesn’t address this directly, so the answer depends on your case’s stage — a filed but not-yet-approved PERM is tied to a specific employer, and changing jobs would mean starting the process over with the new employer. This is a decision to make after consulting an immigration attorney.

Could the PERM suspension expand to companies beyond these eight?

As of the announcement, the restriction applies only to the named eight companies plus Cloudera and Cognizant, which were affected earlier, in May and September 2026. The investigation is ongoing, so the list could theoretically grow, but no additional companies had been named as of the briefing.

What happens if the investigation finds fraud?

The PERM suspension was announced as a temporary measure pending investigation, not a final decision — no fraud charges have been filed yet. If the investigation confirms violations, the matter could move into litigation or end in a settlement; which path it takes was not known at the time of the announcement.

How is a PERM suspension different from a company debarment?

A PERM suspension is triggered by an open investigation from an agency like the Department of Justice or Homeland Security and formally stays in effect until that investigation concludes. Debarment is a separate, standalone action that the Department of Labor publishes on its own website, and it isn’t directly tied to the progress of an investigation.

Is there a known date for when the PERM suspension will be lifted?

No. As of the announcement, no exact timeline was given — the phrasing from the briefing was that the measure would remain in effect “for as long as necessary.” The Department of Labor did not specify a concrete end date or a date for lifting the freeze.

What happens next with the J-1 visa investigation at the nine universities?

No official explanation or FAQ from the Department of Labor on this matter had been issued as of the announcement — the investigation had just been launched simultaneously across all nine universities. Whether specific programs or grants will be suspended was not addressed at the briefing.