DOL PERM Suspension for Microsoft and Adobe, October 8, 2026: Notes for HR

The October 8 suspension is a filing freeze on the labor-certification step that usually comes before an employment-based green card, not a cancellation of existing H-1B status. People teams at named employers, at customers of the named IT firms, and at any company that uses those firms for on-site staff should treat pending PERM cases as stopped until the Department of Labor says otherwise.

This note is a news briefing for operators. It is not legal, immigration, tax, or investment advice.

What did the Labor Department announce on October 8?

Reuters, reporting from Washington on October 8, said the administration froze some green-card filings by Microsoft, Adobe, and major IT outsourcers and opened probes into nine universities. Secretary Sonderling said the department would not accept any new permanent labor certification applications involving the named companies and would not process pending ones. The companies he listed, according to Reuters, are Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies, and Capgemini.

PERM is the Labor Department process most employers must complete before sponsoring a worker for an employment-based green card. The employer has to test the labor market and show that hiring the foreign worker will not harm the wages, working conditions, or job opportunities of U.S. workers. A PERM freeze blocks that step. It is not, on the facts released October 8, a revocation of visas already issued.

Who was named, and what did officials say?

Vice President Vance used the briefing to single out Microsoft. Reuters, in an October 8 explainer, reported his line: “Our message to Microsoft is: You’re a great American company, but you’ve got to hire great American workers.” Business Insider reported that Vance accused Microsoft of abusing PERM and said the company had filed more certified PERM applications than any other employer in the first three quarters of this fiscal year, with 1,504 filings in that analysis, plus 174 for LinkedIn and Activision. Those filing counts are a news-organization tally, not a DOL statistical release.

Microsoft’s response was limited. Wired reported a statement, provided by representative Kaitlin Haskins, that the company “only files H-1B petitions for those who meet the rigorous standards of this visa category” and that it develops its workforce by strengthening the U.S. talent pipeline, hiring American workers, and attracting talent from abroad. Adobe had not responded to Business Insider by the time of its October 8 story. Tata Consultancy Services declined to comment, Reuters said, and several other named firms had not immediately responded.

Vance also said nine universities, including Harvard, Yale, and Stanford, would be investigated for what the administration called misuse of exchange-visitor visas to undercut American wages. Reuters named Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Brown, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology among the nine, and said Labor Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito said subpoenas had already been served. It did not publish the full list of nine. University HR and international-student offices should not assume a PERM-style filing freeze applies to them on the basis of that sentence alone.

How is PERM different from an H-1B?

An H-1B is a temporary work visa. PERM is a labor-market test used on the path to permanent residence. A worker can hold valid H-1B status, and an employer can still be blocked from moving that worker to a green card, if the Labor Department will not accept or process the certification. Teams that tell employees “your visa is fine, so your green card is fine” will be wrong for anyone whose PERM sat with a named employer.

The practical choke points are recruitment advertising, the prevailing-wage step, and the filing itself. If a PERM was already pending at DOL for a named company, Sonderling’s formulation — no processing of pending applications involving these companies — means the case should be treated as paused, not as approved. Employees will ask about priority dates, spouses on dependent visas, and travel. HR should not invent processing timelines. DOL had not, in the October 8 reporting, published a case-status FAQ or a restoration date.

Why does this reach companies that were not named?

Several of the suspended firms are staffing and consulting vendors, not only product companies. A U.S. customer that has Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL, Capgemini, or Cognizant personnel on a statement of work does not file those workers’ PERMs, but it does depend on the vendor’s ability to keep people in role. If a vendor cannot move staff from a temporary visa to permanent residence, retention and backfill risk sit with the customer’s project plan as well as the vendor’s mobility team.

Procurement and HR should ask vendors, in writing, which on-site roles depend on a pending PERM at a named employer, without collecting more personal immigration detail than the engagement requires. The question is operational continuity, not a fishing expedition into individual status.

What should HR do this week?

First, name an owner. Immigration operations, not a generalist recruiter, should hold the list of affected employees and vendor workers. Second, freeze new PERM recruitment campaigns at named employers until counsel has read whatever DOL posts. Third, separate communications: existing nonimmigrant status is not the thing that was suspended; the labor-certification filing is. Fourth, warn managers not to make oral promises about green-card timing in one-on-ones. Fifth, if the company is a customer of a named outsourcer, ask for a continuity note on roles tied to pending certifications.

Do not circulate the vice president’s layoff-replacement claim as an internal finding. It is an allegation from a press briefing. Microsoft disputed the abuse framing in the statements above. Employee relations will get worse if HR repeats a political charge as if it were a case disposition.

What should HR watch next?

Watch for a DOL or USCIS implementation notice that defines “involving these companies,” including subsidiaries such as LinkedIn and Activision, joint employers, and successor entities. Watch whether pending cases are returned, held, or denied. Watch the university exchange-visitor inquiry if the organization sponsors J-1 researchers. And watch whether the suspension spreads beyond the eight employers named on October 8. Until a written order or FAQ is public, the operative text is Sonderling’s statement that new applications will not be accepted and pending ones will not be processed.

Frequently asked questions

Does the October 8 action cancel H-1B visas?

Reporting on the briefing describes a suspension of PERM filings and processing for named employers. It does not describe a mass revocation of H-1B petitions.

Are only Microsoft and Adobe covered?

No. Secretary Sonderling also named Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies, and Capgemini.

What happens to a PERM already filed?

Sonderling said the department would not process pending permanent labor certification applications involving these companies. Treat those cases as paused until DOL publishes a disposition.

Were universities suspended from PERM too?

The briefing described investigations of nine universities, including Harvard, Yale, and Stanford, over exchange-visitor visas. That is a separate action from the employer PERM freeze.

Is this legal advice for a specific employee?

No. Individual status, travel, and dependent-visa questions belong with immigration counsel and the filing employer.

Son Güncelleme / Last Updated: October 9, 2026.

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