US green-card freeze hits TCS, Infosys, Wipro; GTRI warns of wider IT curbs

The US government, led by President Donald Turmp, has decided to freeze new and pending green-card sponsorship applications at eight technology companies, a move which can be a warning sign for Indian Information Technology (IT) industry to prepare for possible wider restrictions on foreign technology workers, according to a Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) report.

The US suspended several companies from the Permanent Labour Certification Programme (PERM) on Thursday, affecting major tech giants, including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Wipro and HCLTech from India, along with Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant and Capgemini.

Also read: Microsoft defends foreign hiring after US green card programme suspension


The GTRI report stated that the freeze affects PERM-based green-card sponsorship, which allows employers to sponsor foreign workers for permanent residency. However, the latest move does not itself stop companies from applying for H-1B visas under the usual rules or cancel the existing H-1B status of workers.

The IT companies have said that the immediate disruption is limited, but GTRI warned that the action creates uncertainty for employees seeking permanent residency and companies planning their long-term staffing in the US.

"The U.S. green-card sponsorship freeze is a warning for India's IT industry," the research firm said, adding that the IT industry should prepare for possible restrictions extending beyond green-card sponsorship to H-1B hiring, skilled-worker mobility and outsourcing.

The GTRI report further highlighted India's dependence on the US market, which accounted for $119.7 billion, or 54.1 per cent, of the country's total software and IT-enabled services exports of $221.4 billion in FY2025-26.

However, India's changing IT delivery model could help cushion the immediate impact on companies.

According to the report, 91.7 per cent of India's software and IT-enabled services exports globally were delivered from India, while 8.3 per cent were delivered by professionals working at overseas client locations.

Applying this global split to US exports, the report estimated that around $109.8 billion worth of services were delivered from India and $9.9 billion through on-site work, cautioning that this was an estimate based on worldwide delivery shares rather than US-specific figures.

Also read: PERM suspension could trap tech workers in a green card visa cycle

It further noted that the visa freeze appears selective, as major technology companies such as Amazon, Google, IBM, Meta, Apple, Intel and Accenture were not included in the action.

The fresh H-1B visa restrictions could possibly encourage multinational companies to expand engineering work and specialised teams at their Indian Global Capability Centres (GCCs), potentially creating jobs and increasing India's role in technology development.

GTRI recommended that Indian IT firms must diversify export markets, strengthen delivery from India and expand local hiring in the US where needed. The firm also called for greater focus on artificial intelligence and higher-value technology work to reduce the industry's vulnerability to sudden changes in US policy.

The move, announced by US Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling, comes after the Department of Homeland Security announced on October 7 to impose a $70,000 fee for initial Optional Practical Training (OPT) applications by F-1 non-immigrant students and $30,000 for OPT applications.

Sonderling said that the Labour Department would not be accepting any new application or process pending permanent labour certification applications involving the companies. The companies had together requested about three million foreign workers since 2009 and got more than 230,000 H-1B visa approvals and over 100,000 permanent labour certifications, he added.