On 8 October 2026, the US Department of Labor (DOL) said it would stop accepting or processing Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) applications involving eight employers, including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wipro. This piece asks one question: what has actually been suspended, on what stated grounds, and who bears the cost?The evidence supports a narrower answer than the headlines. The first step of the green-card pipeline is frozen for these employers, current H-1B status is not, and the allegations and the duration have not yet been published in primary form.

1. What was announced

Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling announced the action on 8 October alongside Vice President JD Vance. The suspended employers are Cognizant, Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCLTech and Capgemini, plus Microsoft and Adobe, the last two cited for “multiple active federal investigations.”1 Sonderling said DOL would not accept new or process pending PERM applications involving these companies.1 This is not a suspension of the H-1B visa, and not a cancellation of any green card already granted.2

It follows a narrower step on 8 September 2026, when DOL’s Inspector General suspended PERM filings from Cognizant and Cloudera during an H-1B/PERM fraud investigation opened in July.3

2. What the H-1B visa is, and where PERM fits

The H-1B is a temporary (non-immigrant) work visa for “specialty occupations.” It carries an annual cap of 65,000, with 20,000 more for holders of a US master’s degree or higher, and is generally granted for up to three years, extendable to six.45

PERM is a different instrument. The employer certifies to DOL that it tested the US labour market and found no qualified, willing US worker; this is generally the first step toward sponsoring a green card.6 The H-1B is the temporary status; PERM is the gateway to permanence.

3. What the US says was misused

The administration’s stated position, as attributed:

  • Sonderling (DOL): since 2009 the eight companies together requested almost three million foreign workers, received over 230,000 H-1B approvals and over 100,000 permanent labor certifications, which he characterised as hundreds of thousands of jobs taken from American workers. DOL has not published the data behind these figures.1

  • Vance: said the H-1B programme “has become rife with fraud” over recent decades.6

  • The only company-specific allegation reported is against Microsoft: Vance said it laid off 6,000 American workers in 2025 while filing 3,682 PERM applications, nearly 1,000 for positions of laid-off US workers.6 No reviewed source sets out a specific allegation against TCS, Infosys or Wipro individually. DOL has cited no regulation publicly and no charges have been announced against any of the eight companies.1 Secondary legal commentary notes that 20 CFR § 656.31(b) lets DOL hold PERM cases where an employer is under fraud investigation, with an initial hold of up to 180 days; DOL has not said it is relying on this rule.1

4. Impact on the companies

  • Operational. For these employers, new PERM filings are not accepted and pending ones are not processed. Current H-1B status and work authorisation are unchanged.1

  • Market. When the narrower Cognizant action was announced on 9 September 2026, Indian IT stocks lost nearly Rs 55,000 crore in market capitalisation in one session; Infosys and Coforge fell about 6% each, though Coforge’s fall coincided with its chairman’s resignation.7 The 8 October announcement came after the Indian market session, and a price reaction for TCS, Infosys and Wipro was not available at the time of writing. TCS reported Q2 FY27 net profit up about 15% to Rs 13,934 crore the same day.8

  • Company statements. Microsoft responded that most of its US employees are Americans and that 80% of roughly 6,000 H-1B filings last fiscal year were extensions or changes of status for existing staff.1 No statement from TCS, Infosys or Wipro was found.

5. Impact on Indians in the US

The sourced mechanism runs through the six-year H-1B limit. USCIS can extend H-1B status beyond year six only if a PERM or immigrant petition was filed at least 365 days earlier. A worker at one of the eight firms whose PERM has not yet been filed cannot start that clock while the suspension lasts. Indian nationals face the longest employment-based green-card backlogs, so these extensions are often what keeps them employed while waiting.1 Workers with an approved I-140 blocked by the per-country limit have a separate extension route that does not need a new PERM, and PERM cases filed over a year ago still hold a filing date.1

Spouses are affected indirectly: an H-4 spouse can get a work permit only once the H-1B worker has an approved I-140 or is in a beyond-six-year extension, so a frozen PERM pushes that eligibility further out.1 A worker can move to an employer not on the list, which can file its own PERM; a PERM already filed by the old employer may still count toward the 365-day clock if not denied or withdrawn.1

The scale of exposure depends on a backlog that predates this action. The Cato Institute estimated 1.8 million employment-based cases in backlog in 2023, about 1.1 million of them Indian, and 123,234 pending labour-certification applications.9 The NFAP estimated nearly 1 million Indian nationals waiting as of December 2025, about 79% of the backlog in the three categories it examined.10 The two estimates use different dates and scopes and are not directly comparable. Neither measures how many of these workers are employed at the eight suspended firms; no reviewed source does.

6. Counter-evidence and unresolved points

• Reliance on the programme may be shrinking, not growing. USCIS data reported by The Week show Cognizant’s H-1B approvals fell from 9,413 in 2020 to 3,510 in 2026.3 DOL’s figures cover 2009 onward, aggregate eight companies and are unpublished. Both can be true; this piece does not resolve between them.

• The delay is structural. The 7% per-country cap, not employer behaviour, drives the Indian queue.11

• Nothing is yet adjudicated. No charges, duration or named legal authority have been published.

7. The next generation: what can and cannot be said

No reviewed source quantifies the effect on the children of affected workers, and this piece makes no claim about it. The sourced chain is narrower: a delayed PERM delays the later green-card steps, extends time on temporary status for the worker, and delays work eligibility for the spouse. Questions this piece cannot answer from current sources include how many dependent children are affected, what happens to those nearing age 21, and whether the suspension is lifted. Those need USCIS data and immigration-counsel input.

8. What the evidence establishes, and what it does not

Established (as of 9 October 2026): DOL announced it will not accept or process PERM applications involving eight named employers, including TCS, Infosys and Wipro; H-1B status and work authorisation are unchanged; no charges, legal authority or duration have been published.

Not established: any specific wrongdoing by TCS, Infosys or Wipro; the data behind DOL’s figures; the market effect on the three firms; the number of Indian workers or children affected.

References

1.  i9 Intelligence, “DOL Suspends Microsoft, Adobe, and Six IT Firms From PERM: What It Means for Form I-9,” 8 Oct 2026. https://www.i-9intelligence.com/articles/dol-perm-suspension-microsoft-adobe-it-firms (Tier 2/3: legal-compliance commentary quoting official statements)

2.  The Logical Indian, “US Suspends Infosys, TCS, Wipro and Cognizant From PERM Programme Over Alleged Fraud,” 8 Oct 2026.https://thelogicalindian.com/us-suspends-tcs-cognizant-from-perm-129737/ (Tier 2)

3.  The Week, “US suspends Cognizant from filing green cards: what it means for Indian workers,” 9 Sep 2026. https://www.theweek.in/ news/biz-tech/2026/09/09/us-suspends-cognizant-from-filing-green-cards-what-it-means-for-indian-workers.html (Tier 2)

4.  US Department of Homeland Security, Study in the States, “F-1 Students: Learn About H-1B Status,” 2014. https://studyinthestates.dhs.gov/2014/04/f-1-students-learn-about-h-1b-status (Tier 1, dated; current USCIS page to be added)

5.  Smith Stone Walters, “H-1B Specialty Occupations Visa.” https://smithstonewalters.com/global-immigration/the-americas/h-1b-specialty-occupations-visa (Tier 2)

6.  Business Today, “Setback for IT giants: US suspends Microsoft, Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL from green card programme,” 8 Oct 2026.  https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/story/setback-for-it-giants-us-suspends-infosys-tata-wipro-hcl-cognizant-as-vance-targets-h-1b-abuse-560529-2026-10-08 (Tier 2; quotes are Tier 3 official statements)

7.  NewsBytes, “Why Indian IT stocks lost Rs 55,000cr in today’s session,” 9 Sep 2026. https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/business/why-indian-it-stocks-lost-rs-55-000cr-in-today-s-session/story (Tier 2)

8.  Business Today, “TCS Q2 FY27 results: Net profit rises 15% to Rs 13,934 crore,” 8 Oct 2026. https://www.businesstoday.in/markets/ stocks/story/tcs-q2-fy27-results-net-profit-rises-15-to-rs-13934-crore-declares-rs-12-dividend-560435-2026-10-08 (Tier 2; BSE/NSE filing to be added)

9.  Outlook Business, “Over 4 Lakh Indians May Die Awaiting Employment-Based Green Cards: Report,” reporting David J. Bier, Cato Institute. https://www.outlookbusiness.com/news/over-4-lakh-indians-may-die-awaiting-employment-based-s-green-cards-report (Tier 2; Cato report to be cited directly)

10.  Newsweek, “Green Card Update: Report Shows Applicants With Longest Wait Times,” reporting the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP).https://www.newsweek.com/green-card-update-report-shows-applicants-with-longest-wait-times-12385164 (Tier 2)

11.  Business Standard, “134-year US green card wait for Indian H-1Bs,” 2026. https://www.business-standard.com/immigration/134-yea r-us-green-card-wait-for-indian-h-1bs-why-backlog-keeps-growing-126031900743_1.html (Tier 2)

Pre-publication items: link the USCIS H-1B page, the DOL announcement text, BSE/NSE filings and the Cato report directly. Figures will be corrected with a dated note, never silently.