IBM stunned the global mobility community on 12 November by confirming that its IBM Consulting division will no longer sponsor new H-1B visas or employment-based green cards for the majority of positions. The decision follows months of internal review that showed sponsorship costs have risen sharply since the Trump administration introduced a $100,000 H-1B payment requirement for many overseas hires and proposed additional integrity fees. Under the new policy, only a limited number of hard-to-fill specialty roles—chiefly in quantum computing and mainframe security—will remain eligible for immigration support. Current foreign employees with active petitions will be allowed to finish the process, but IBM told staff that renewals will not be filed “except under exceptional business need.” Employees whose status cannot be extended were offered two choices: relocate to IBM delivery centers abroad or separate from the company by 31 December. IBM filed 1,611 H-1B petitions in FY 2026, down 21 percent from the prior year. Mobility managers across the tech sector expect rivals to follow suit if new government fees and wage rules take effect. For clients, the policy shift may mean fewer IBM consultants on-site in the United States and greater reliance on near-shore teams in Canada, Mexico and Costa Rica. From a compliance perspective, IBM’s retreat underscores how regulatory risk now factors into workforce-planning decisions. Companies with smaller immigration programs should monitor vendor behaviour: service providers that lose IBM volume may raise prices elsewhere. Impacted assignees should seek independent legal advice on alternative options such as L-1 intragroup transfers or EB-5 investor visas. The announcement also places pressure on Congress to clarify long-pending H-1B fee and grace-period proposals; lawmakers in districts with significant IBM operations have already asked the Government Accountability Office to estimate local job losses linked to the policy.
Source: Business Standard
