Microsoft suspended from PERM green card program the same day its CEO receives a medal

On October 8, 2026, the US Department of Labor suspended Microsoft from the PERM program, the main path employers use to sponsor foreign workers for green cards. Hours later, President Trump hung the National Medal of Technology and Innovation around the neck of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

What the Labor Department actually did

Microsoft was not alone. The suspension covered eight companies in total: Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies, and Capgemini.

The suspension stems from ongoing federal investigations into alleged visa fraud. Investigators are probing the alleged misuse of employment-based immigration pathways to replace American workers with cheaper foreign labor.

Under the PERM program, an employer must show that no qualified US worker is available before it can sponsor a foreign worker for a green card.

The suspension halts new PERM application submissions from the affected firms. It also stops processing on cases already pending. What it does not do is pull existing H-1B work authorizations. Employees currently working on those visas are not losing their status because of this action.

The numbers Vance put on the table

Vice President JD Vance supplied the figures that frame the case against Microsoft. He said the company laid off approximately 6,000 US workers in 2025. Over the same stretch, according to Vance, Microsoft received roughly 6,300 H-1B visa approvals. He also pointed to nearly 3,000 green card processes.

Microsoft has pushed back on the interpretation. The company says approximately 80% of its recent H-1B filings were for status changes or extensions for people it already employs, not new hires. The company tied those filings to a figure of about 1% of the US workforce. It also reaffirmed that it is committed to hiring American talent alongside expertise from abroad.

A medal and a penalty in one news cycle

The PERM suspension and the Nadella medal arrived on the same day. Trump praised Nadella for leading Microsoft’s transformation and credited the CEO with pushing forward advances in cloud computing and artificial intelligence.

Many of the engineers powering the AI and cloud work that earned Nadella his medal come through the same visa channels now under scrutiny.

What this means for tech employers and workers

For the eight suspended companies, the immediate cost is operational. Any green card sponsorship plans sitting in the PERM queue are now stalled with no clear restart date.

Foreign workers caught in the pending queue face the sharpest uncertainty. Their current H-1B status is intact, but the longer-term path to permanent residency is on hold while investigators work.

Disclosure: This article was edited by John Chen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.