Abstract:
U.S. Vice President Vance announced on October 8 that the Trump administration has suspended eight large technology and technical service companies including Microsoft from participating in the permanent labor certification program. For foreign engineers working in these companies, a green card application that was originally progressing step by step may suddenly stop in the Department of Labor approval process. Among them, the potential impact on Chinese and Indian employees who have been engaged in technical work in the United States for a long time has attracted much attention.
On October 8, Vance held a press conference at the White House. Source: Associated Press, Photo: Tom Brenner.
U.S. Secretary of Labor Keith Sandlin announced on the same day that in addition to Microsoft, companies subject to restrictions include Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, Haller Technologies, and Capgemini. The labor department has made it clear that it will no longer accept new permanent labor certification applications involving these companies, and will also suspend the processing of applications that are still under review. The list includes U.S. software giants and many companies whose headquarters or operations are closely related to the Indian technology outsourcing industry.
Permanent labor certification is an important step for U.S. employers to sponsor employment-based immigration. Employers usually need to complete reviews on recruitment and salary standards to prove that they meet the conditions for hiring foreign employees before employees can further apply for relevant immigration. After the labor department suspends approval, the impact will first fall on employees who have not submitted materials or whose applications are still being processed by the labor department.
Employees of the same company may also face different situations. Those who are still waiting for their employer to initiate labor certification may not be able to take the critical step of applying for the time being; those who have submitted materials but have not yet been approved may be stuck on the waiting list. Whether an application that has obtained labor certification and entered subsequent immigration procedures will be affected in any other way must still be judged based on the actual processing stage and official notification.
Microsoft office park data map. Source: Microsoft official.
In the U.S. technology industry, China and India have always been important sources of foreign technical talent. For engineers who rely on employer sponsorship to apply for permanent residence, the green card schedule is closely linked to work arrangements, job-hopping decisions, and family residence plans. This restriction is implemented based on the employer list and does not target Chinese or Indian nationals. However, the companies on the list have a large number of multinational technical positions, making the policy change particularly noticeable among these two types of applicants.
This measure targets the permanent labor certification process. It does not announce the revocation of employees’ existing professional work visas, nor does it mean that the green cards already obtained will become invalid. Whether the employee can continue to work legally and whether the employer can proceed with the employment-based immigration application are different approval issues. For those whose status has not yet been converted to permanent residents, work can continue, but the process leading to a green card may be slowed down or even interrupted.
At the press conference, Vance took aim at the hiring practices of large technology companies. He accused Microsoft of laying off employees while absorbing a large number of foreign workers through the immigration system, and mentioned figures such as about 6,000 employees being laid off, about 6,300 professional work visas and nearly 3,000 green cards. Since these figures involve different application types and statistical calibers, it cannot be directly proven that there is a one-to-one replacement relationship between laid-off U.S. employees and approved foreign employees. Allegations of abuse or fraud brought by the government still require further evidence.
Microsoft said in this regard that about 80% of the professional work visa applications it submitted in the last fiscal year involved extensions or status changes for existing employees, and newly recruited visa holders only accounted for a small part of its total U.S. employees. The companies' responses were sharply at odds with Vance's accusations: The White House emphasized local jobs, while Microsoft emphasized the connection between multinational technology talent and corporate innovation. The debate is still inconclusive, but the suspension of labor certification has become a reality.
File photo of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Source: Microsoft official.
On the same day, Trump also awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at the White House. The vice president had just announced restrictions on Microsoft's immigration sponsorship applications, and the president later publicly praised its leader. The White House's two attitudes towards technology giants therefore appeared on the same day: on the one hand, they need these companies to promote U.S. technology competition, and on the other hand, they impose stricter scrutiny on them for hiring foreign employees.
As of October 8, there is no clear answer as to how long the suspension will last and which pending cases may be resumed. For foreign employees at Microsoft and seven other companies, the most important change in the future will not occur on the awards stage, but in the application queue of the Ministry of Labor. Whether a labor certification can proceed is related to their work plans and long-term residence arrangements in the United States.
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