Cognizant’s US immigration troubles: From visa lawsuits to latest green-card filing suspension

Cognizant’s US immigration practices have come under renewed scrutiny after the Department of Labor suspended the company’s filings for employment-based green cards amid an investigation into alleged fraud and abuse in visa programmes.

Anthony D’Esposito, Inspector General of the US Department of Labor, announced the action on X on September 8.

“Fighting fraud is a TEAM SPORT. @Sonderling47 and I are for real. @Cognizant’s PERM filings are suspended. @DOLOIG is on the hunt. Threats to American workers will NOT be tolerated. Alongside @WHFraudTF, we’re following facts, fraud and finances. Handcuffs await,” he wrote.


The post did not provide details of the allegations against Cognizant. It did not state how many filings were affected or how long the suspension would continue.

PERM, or Permanent Labour Certification, is a key step in the process through which US employers sponsor foreign workers for employment-based green cards.

Cognizant has remained a major H-1B sponsor in the US, although its visa activity has declined from earlier years. USCIS data recorded 9,413 approved H-1B petitions for the company in 2020, compared with 3,510 in the latest fiscal-year data. Labor Department records also show that Cognizant’s LCA filings fell from 28,735 in fiscal 2020 to 11,140 in fiscal 2025. These figures represent petitions and filings, not unique employees.

Labor Department LCA data

The Labor Department’s disclosure data shows the following Cognizant LCA filings:

Fiscal year	LCAs filed	Certified
2020	28,735	28,621
2021	12,681	12,463
2022	13,906	13,421
2023	13,073	12,889
2024	11,437	11,226
2025	11,140	11,091

The action places Cognizant at the centre of a wider US investigation into the H-1B and PERM systems. The Labor Department’s Office of Inspector General launched the probe in July, citing alleged false visa applications, wage kickbacks, fraudulent recruitment, worker exploitation and the use of below-market wages.

The investigation is being conducted with the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and other federal agencies. In August, the Inspector General said investigators had carried out field checks in Dallas at locations linked to more than 500 approved H-1B petitions. Officials said some of the offices appeared inactive, with locked doors, switched-off lights and little evidence of business operations.

D’Esposito also announced the suspension of Cloudera’s PERM filings. The authorities have not publicly set out the specific allegations against Cognizant or Cloudera.

Earlier court scrutiny

The latest action follows earlier legal cases involving Cognizant’s visa-related employment practices.

In a California class-action case, the court examined Cognizant’s “Visa Readiness” and “Visa Utilization” policies. In December 2025, it concluded that the policies had a disproportionate impact on non-South Asian and non-Indian employees who were placed on the company’s bench and later terminated between December 2016 and October 2022.

The court’s findings related to the impact of Cognizant’s policies on employees. They were not a finding that the company had committed fraud in the current Labor Department investigation.

Cognizant also faced a separate lawsuit filed by former employee Jean-Claude Franchitti. In that case, a federal jury found the company liable on termination-based retaliation claims.

A judgment entered in April 2026 awarded Franchitti $4.2 million in compensatory damages and $4.2 million in punitive damages. Cognizant prevailed on other claims in the case.

Why Cognizant is under pressure

Cognizant has long been a major user of the H-1B system, which allows US employers to hire foreign professionals for specialised jobs. The company’s dependence on the programme has made its recruitment, wage and employee-management practices more visible as US authorities increase scrutiny of temporary visa use.

The Justice Department has separately pursued cases against technology companies accused of excluding US workers while hiring or sponsoring workers on temporary visas.

In April, it sued Cloudera, alleging that the company discouraged US workers from applying for certain technology jobs and failed to recruit them properly during the PERM process.

In August, the department announced a $3.2 million settlement with OpenAI over allegations that it favoured temporary visa holders and discouraged US workers from applying for some positions. OpenAI did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement.

For Cognizant, the latest suspension adds a government investigation to earlier court scrutiny of its employment practices. The Labor Department has not announced a final finding against the company in the current case.