The green-card ambitions of thousands of Indian tech professionals took a fresh hit on 16 October when the US Department of Labor (DoL) confirmed a temporary suspension of Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) filings for eight outsourcing and staffing companies under investigation for fraud. While the DoL has not named the firms, industry insiders told The Economic Times they include two large India-headquartered IT services providers and several mid-sized staffing agencies. PERM is the mandatory first step in most employment-based green-card cases. Without an approved PERM, H-1B workers nearing their six-year visa limit cannot file an I-140 immigrant petition to trigger extensions beyond the cap. Attorneys estimate that more than 12,000 Indian employees sponsored by the affected companies now risk falling out of status as early as January 2027 unless their employers transfer them or restart the process. The freeze also creates collateral damage for Indian assignees at client sites. Consulting contracts typically require vendors to keep workers authorised; project disruptions could trigger penalty clauses or force redeployments to offshore centres. Multinational clients are therefore reviewing vendor rosters and seeking indemnity for immigration non-compliance. Immigration lawyers advise impacted employees to explore ‘H-1B portability’ to an alternate employer that is not under investigation. However, any new employer would have to restart PERM from scratch, potentially adding 12–15 months of processing time. Those approaching the six-year ceiling may need to leave the United States and be rehired on an L-1 intra-company transfer once they meet the one-year offshore requirement. The episode underscores the heightened enforcement climate around US employment-based immigration. Indian companies with large H-1B populations are urged to audit their wage-level documentation, maintain spotless public-access files and diversify talent locations to minimise single-country exposure.
Source: The Economic Times
