India Condemns JD Vance Remark Following PERM Green Card Suspension for Tech Giants

India’s Ministry of External Affairs called US Vice President JD Vance’s description of foreign workers hired by Microsoft as “indentured servants” deeply offensive, following Washington's suspension of eight major technology and consulting firms from the permanent labor certification program, according to a report by The Next Web (https://thenextweb.com/news/india-vance-indentured-servants-perm-suspension).

Foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a briefing in New Delhi that using language tied to painful historical and colonial legacies was unwarranted. Jaiswal stressed that Indian professionals in the United States are highly skilled contributors to the American economy, adding that international talent mobility benefits both countries and corporate shareholders. “The steps announced by the US do not advance the shared ambitions of both countries,” Jaiswal said.

The diplomatic dispute follows Vance's announcement that the US Department of Labor suspended eight employers from the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) program: Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL, and Capgemini. PERM serves as the initial step for employers sponsoring foreign workers for US permanent residency. Vance alleged that Microsoft replaced laid-off American workers with lower-paid foreign staff, while Microsoft stated that most of its H-1B filings over the past year were for personnel already employed at the company.

The Indian foreign ministry noted that PERM is distinct from the H-1B temporary visa program, pointing out that the suspension does not directly invalidate existing H-1B status or affect family members, though it could disrupt green card processing for eligible staff at the named companies. US Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said the department will refuse new PERM filings and halt pending applications from the eight employers. Vance stated the freeze would continue “as long as it needs to.”

Microsoft represents the largest single user of the PERM program, according to a GeekWire analysis of Labor Department records cited in the report. Regulators ruled on 3,161 Microsoft applications during the fiscal year ending September 2025, compared to 39 for Amazon and three for Google. Across all employers, the Labor Department certified nearly 140,000 PERM applications in fiscal 2025, with roughly 30 percent covering software developers, systems analysts, and data scientists, Axios reported.

Immigration attorneys told Business Insider that foreign workers nearing the standard six-year H-1B cap face the greatest disruption, as active green card applications are required to extend temporary status beyond that limit. Ted Chiappari, a partner at Duane Morris, noted that federal rules restrict unilateral Labor Department suspensions to 180 days without a formal investigation, which can yield bans of up to three years. Buchalter attorney Kripa Upadhyay indicated that lawsuits challenging the suspension could emerge within days.

The PERM freeze comes alongside other US visa policy pressures, including a proposed $103,265 fee on new H-1B applications and a $3.2 million settlement by OpenAI in August regarding PERM recruitment advertising. Indian industry trade body Nasscom told Reuters that Indian technology providers have already reduced their reliance on H-1B visas in the US, with comparatively few of their employees pursuing green cards through PERM.