- White House ban: The administration blocked Microsoft and seven other major technology firms from participating in permanent foreign worker visa programs.
- Fraud allegations: Vice President JD Vance accused the companies of abusing the H-1B system and replacing American employees with cheaper international contract labor.
- Halted applications: The Department of Labor suspended the processing of all new and pending PERM applications for the targeted corporations.
Microsoft and several major technology firms have been barred by the White House from hiring skilled international workers on a permanent basis through a federal visa program.
Vice President JD Vance accused Microsoft and other corporations of committing fraud through the H1b visa system and related pathways that allow foreign workers to gain permanent residency in the United States.
Accusations of Workplace Replacement
Vance claimed that Microsoft has effectively replaced American workers with foreign contract labor. He stated that no company in the United States has abused the system more than Microsoft during the recent fiscal year.
Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling announced that the government will halt the processing of any new or pending Permanent Labor Certification Program applications from Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini.
What drove the recent restrictions on tech visa programs?
The White House blocked Microsoft and seven other technology firms from permanent foreign worker programs due to allegations of visa system abuse, wage undercutting, and the replacement of domestic employees with international contractors during recent corporate layoffs.
A Microsoft spokesperson defended the company, noting that the vast majority of its domestic workforce is American and that 80 percent of its recent H1b filings involved existing personnel. CEO Satya Nadella received a technology innovation medal from President Donald Trump on the same day the restrictions were announced, with the Department of Labor having certified over 130,000 PERM applications across ten business categories last fiscal year.