US Freezes Permanent Residency Applications for Microsoft and Adobe Amid Federal Inquiries

The U.S. Department of Labor has suspended technology companies Microsoft and Adobe, along with several major IT services firms, from participating in its Permanent Labor Certification program, Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling announced Thursday. As reported by CNBC Business (https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/08/microsoft-adobe-green-card-labor-suspension.html), the agency will refuse to accept or process new permanent residency labor applications for affected companies, which also include Cognizant, Infosys, Capgemini, Tata, Wipro, and HCL.

Sonderling stated that the suspensions of Adobe and Microsoft were initiated "due to multiple active federal investigations." Across the impacted companies, Sonderling said employers have requested nearly 3 million foreign workers since 2009, resulting in more than 230,000 H-1B visa approvals and over 100,000 permanent labor certifications.

Vice President JD Vance criticized Microsoft directly at the announcement summit, citing the software company's 6,000 layoffs in 2025 and alleging that the firm replaced domestic employees with H-1B visa holders. "So we're going to continue to support Microsoft and have a great relationship with Microsoft, but we're also going to deny them the ability to apply for these permanent residencies until they show that they are going to get serious about putting American workers first," Vance said.

Microsoft defended its employment and recruitment practices in a statement Thursday, noting that "the vast majority of Microsoft employees in the United States are Americans." The company stated that out of roughly 6,000 H-1B applications submitted during its last fiscal year, 80 percent were filed to extend or modify the status of existing employees rather than recruit new personnel from abroad. Microsoft also noted that its filings are limited to candidates meeting strict statutory criteria and that its compensation for visa holders ranks among the highest in the industry.

The regulatory action coincided with a ceremony where President Donald Trump was scheduled to present the National Medal of Science to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and several other prominent technology executives, including SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and AMD CEO Lisa Su. All four leaders immigrated to the United States.

According to 2026 data from Levels.fyi cited in the report, Amazon led all corporate sponsors with 35,426 H-1B petitions, followed by Cognizant and EY. Microsoft ranked fourth with 21,706 petitions and reported a median base salary of $180,710 for those roles.