On October 8, the U.S. government abruptly announced it would suspend PERM permanent labor certification applications submitted by Microsoft, Adobe and multiple large IT service firms.

On October 8, the U.S. government abruptly announced that it would suspend the processing of PERM permanent labor certification applications from Microsoft, Adobe and multiple large IT‑service enterprises.

Eight companies are involved in this measure: Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Capgemini. U.S. Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling stated that the government will no longer accept new PERM applications from these firms, and pending applications already in the pipeline will also be put on hold.

On the same day, nine universities including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, MIT and Brown were drawn into an investigation targeting the J‑1 Exchange Visitor Visa Program. The U.S. government stated that this action addresses hiring‑compliance concerns, U.S.‑worker protections, and potential misuse of immigration programs.

Following the announcement, many international students’ immediate concerns are: will Microsoft and Adobe still hire international students? Can candidates with existing offers still apply for H‑1B? What impact will this have for employees waiting for their employers to initiate green‑card procedures?

To answer these questions, one must first understand exactly what the suspended PERM process entails, and how it differs from OPT and H‑1B, which are more familiar to international students.

01 More Than Just Microsoft and Adobe Have Had PERM Suspended

Reports quote U.S. Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling as saying the government will stop accepting and processing both new and pending PERM filings for the eight named companies.

The listed companies are:

Microsoft

Adobe

Cognizant

Infosys

Tata Consultancy Services

Wipro

HCL Technologies

Capgemini

This group includes leading tech giants as well as IT‑service firms that have historically employed large numbers of international talent.

According to the government, the action stems from hiring‑compliance issues, protections for U.S. workers, and alleged misuse of immigration programs. Meanwhile, nine universities including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, MIT and Brown face investigations over their J‑1 Exchange Visitor Visa Program operations.

That said, these companies and universities are subject to suspended application processing or ongoing investigations — this does not constitute a final finding of legal violations. Microsoft, Adobe and other named firms have not yet commented to the press. At this stage, the accurate description is that PERM application processing has been suspended, not that corporate fraud has been proven.

02 What Exactly Has Been Suspended?

This news easily triggers panic because many people lump OPT, H‑1B, PERM and employment‑based green cards together under the general term “sponsorship”. In reality, they represent distinct steps within the U.S. immigration employment pathway.

OPT and STEM OPT are temporary work authorizations granted to eligible F‑1 students after graduation. The H‑1B visa is temporary work status petitioned by employers for professional‑role employees. PERM is a mandatory preliminary step employers complete to help employees pursue employment‑based green cards.

Under the PERM procedure, employers must conduct required recruitment testing and demonstrate that hiring a foreign national will not adversely affect U.S. workers’ wages, working conditions or employment opportunities. Only after PERM is approved may employers and employees move forward with subsequent immigration steps such as Form I‑140 petitions.

Accordingly, this measure limits the affected companies’ ability to advance permanent‑residency applications for certain foreign employees. It does not automatically terminate OPT, suspend the entire H‑1B program, or revoke already‑issued green cards.

Individuals already holding valid H‑1B status may continue working under their existing authorization. However, timelines will be disrupted for employees whose employers were supposed to initiate PERM proceedings for employment‑based green cards. The government has clarified that both new and pending PERM submissions linked to these companies are suspended.

03 Can You Still Apply to Microsoft and Adobe?

For current students seeking internships or New‑Grad positions, there is no simple yes‑or‑no answer.

This PERM‑related measure alone does not prove that Microsoft and Adobe have completely halted hiring OPT‑eligible students or stopped filing H‑1B petitions for all staff. Eligibility for each opening still depends on work‑authorization language in the specific job description and the hiring team’s current internal policies.

Microsoft has stated that roughly 80 % of its approximately 6,000 H‑1B petitions filed in its most recent fiscal year were for extensions or status changes for existing employees, rather than for newly‑recruited foreign nationals. This illustrates that a company’s total annual H‑1B petition volume cannot be directly equated to its number of new‑international‑student hires.

Roles at Microsoft and Adobe remain open for research and applications. Nevertheless, international students cannot rely solely on a company’s historical track‑record of H‑1B or green‑card sponsorship.

Past sponsorship history only shows that petitions were filed previously. It does not guarantee that hiring teams currently hold immigration‑related budgets, that every role supports OPT, H‑1B or PERM, nor does it guarantee that green‑card processes will begin at a set time post‑hire.

04 Which International Students Are Most Impacted?

Group 1: Current students searching for internships or New‑Grad roles

Direct immediate impacts on job‑hunting eligibility are relatively limited. When comparing offers going forward, candidates should look beyond whether an employer files H‑1B petitions and also evaluate long‑term immigration‑path support.

Group 2: Employees working under OPT or STEM OPT

A PERM suspension does not automatically invalidate EAD work permits. Still, if your planned path is OPT work → H‑1B cap petition → employer‑sponsored green card, major uncertainty now hangs over the later stages of this sequence.

Group 3: People already holding H‑1B who are ready to start the PERM process

This group bears the most direct impact. If the employer cannot submit new PERM filings, expected timelines will slip. Employees with already‑submitted pending PERM cases need to verify whether their petitions fall under this suspension order.

05 Big‑Company Sponsorship Is No Permanent Safety Net

The key takeaway from this episode is not that international students should avoid large tech employers. Rather, prestigious brand names and historical sponsorship volumes do not guarantee permanently stable immigration pathways.

An organization may keep hiring OPT‑eligible candidates and continue filing H‑1B petitions for some openings while being temporarily unable to start or process PERM cases. Similarly, a firm with extensive past PERM filings cannot guarantee identical support for every department, role or individual employee in the future.

When evaluating offers, international students should unpack the vague question of “sponsorship” into at least four concrete inquiries:

Does this position accept OPT or STEM OPT candidates?

Will the employer file H‑1B petitions for this specific role?

What alternatives are available if the H‑1B cap lottery is unsuccessful?

When does the company typically initiate employment‑based green‑card processes, and have PERM‑related policies recently changed?

Avoid raising all immigration‑related questions in early‑round interviews. Once you reach later‑stage interviews or receive an offer, confirm details with HR and the Global Mobility team, instead of relying only on second‑hand accounts from alumni.

06 What International Students Should Do Now

You may still apply to the affected companies, but verify immigration eligibility role‑by‑role. Do not discard opportunities purely because of this policy news, and do not skip due‑diligence just because an employer was historically a heavy sponsor.

Avoid concentrating all your job‑search targets on a small set of traditional large tech firms. Build a more resilient candidate pipeline including tech companies, digital‑transformation teams within legacy industries, mid‑sized enterprises and businesses with international offices.

If you are already employed at one of the impacted firms, promptly clarify your case status. Risks differ depending on whether you are on OPT, H‑1B, pre‑PERM, have a pending PERM filing, or have advanced to the I‑140 stage.

Build professional and immigration‑related backup options. The prudent strategy is not chasing a “permanently safe” employer, but diversifying your skill set, target roles and potential employers so you retain flexibility amid policy or corporate shifts.

Microsoft and Adobe are not completely off‑limits for applicants, and the H‑1B program has not been repealed. If an offer matters to you not only as your first job but also for your three‑to‑five‑year U.S.‑residency plans, clarify every step from OPT through H‑1B and PERM prior to accepting it.