Shifting immigration rules

Indian IT firms are prepared for the change

The recent decision by the United States (US) to suspend eight tech companies, including Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro and HCL Tech, from the Permanent Labour Certification (Perm) programme strikes a discordant note in relation to the treatment of highly skilled foreign professionals. As the Ministry of External Affairs has said, the restrictive move hinders the shared ambition between the two countries. Since 2005, when Perm came into effect, it has helped reduce the processing time for an employer in the US to sponsor a foreign worker for permanent residency or the green card. The adverse impact of the suspension of the programme on Indian information-technology (IT) firms and their employees cannot be overlooked, though many top companies have said that the repercussions of the US action on them will not be significant.

 

Although the move is being interpreted as a worrying signal overall, Indian IT majors have been in a state of readiness for such an eventuality. This should minimise any harm arising from the Perm suspension. The action could also accelerate the prospects of research & development as well as engineering jobs shifting to the global capability centres (GCCs) in India. In a statement, Nasscom, the leading association of the Indian tech industry, asserted that companies had reduced their dependence on the H1B visa in recent years while stepping up their hiring in the US. It has underscored the fact that the number of workers moving from the H1B visa to permanent residency through Perm is not high. TCS, India’s largest IT-services exporter, expressed similar sentiments, stating that the action by the US administration wouldn’t disturb its workforce strategy. Infosys, Wipro and HCL too have been on the same page, claiming that the suspension would have no material impact on the companies’ operations.

 

Estimates suggest Indian IT firms constituted less than 2 per cent of the Perm applications filed between October 2024 and September 2025. This implies that they may not be impacted in the near term, but the fallout could be felt in the longer run in terms of higher hiring cost and rising compliance-related expenses because they would need to depend majorly on local talent in the US. Anticipating changes in the US administration, large Indian tech companies have been changing their work models. The numbers for H1B visa registration reflect the change. The top six Indian IT firms, for instance, recorded a 92 per cent decline in numbers during FY27 over the previous year. From 21,919, the registrations dropped to 1,763.

 

The US has been tightening the immigration system with measures such as a $100,000 fee for certain visas, changes in the H1B lottery system, and a rule to end the automatic renewal of work permits for some immigrants, prompting Indian tech companies to prepare for a future that’s very different from the body-shop model they followed till recently. But with the latest action, the tech-job market may see a churn as a pathway to the green card disappears from the horizon. Beyond the business and economic implications, the green-card restrictions came with offensive remarks by US Vice-President J D Vance and Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling. While Mr Vance called tech workers “foreign indentured servants”, Mr Sonderling said jobs in the US would not go to “foreign fraudsters’’. With foreigners, including several Indian-origin professionals, running top firms in the US, those statements expose the nature and thinking of the US administration.