Trump administration says Microsoft ‘abused’ worker visa program and is cutting off access

# Trump administration says Microsoft ‘abused’ worker visa program and is cutting off access Source: [https://www.theverge.com/policy/1008115/trump-microsoft-worker-visa-program-vance](https://www.theverge.com/policy/1008115/trump-microsoft-worker-visa-program-vance) Vice President JD Vance claims an immigration program used by tech companies has become ‘rife’ with fraud\. Vice President JD Vance claims an immigration program used by tech companies has become ‘rife’ with fraud\. by Oct 8, 2026, 4:57 PM UTC   Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images [](https://www.theverge.com/authors/jay-peters) Jay Peters is a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more\. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme\. The Trump administration is suspending some tech companies, including Microsoft, from an immigration program that lets an employer hire foreign workers that can reside permanently in the US,[as reported by*Reuters*](https://www.reuters.com/business/us-suspending-permanent-residency-program-for-microsoft-vance-says-2026-10-08/)\. In a[press conference](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QAu9FOEOv8), Vice President JD Vance claimed the[permanent labor certification program](https://flag.dol.gov/programs/perm)— intended for use when there aren’t “sufficient” US workers available to do a job — has become “rife” with fraud over the “past several years,” and that no company has “abused” the system more than Microsoft\. “Our message to Microsoft is: you’re a great American company, but you’ve got to hire great American workers\.” The administration is also suspending companies including Adobe, Cognizant, and Infosys\. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling claims Microsoft and Adobe “requested almost 3 million foreign workers,” received “over 230,000 H\-1B visa approvals,” and “over 100,000 permanent labor certifications\.” Vance also said Microsoft laid off 6,000 American workers last year and “benefited” from 6,300 H\-1B visas and “almost 3,000 green cards\.” > We look forward to providing the Administration with additional information\. For example, of the approximately 6,000 H\-1B visa applications we submitted in the last fiscal year, 80% percent were to extend or change the status of existing Microsoft employees\. These were not to hire new people\. The remaining filings for new employees were for individuals already legally in the United States who decided to come work for us, and they equal only 1% of our U\.S\. workforce\. They are not new arrivals to our country\. Microsoft only files H\-1B petitions for those who meet the rigorous standards of this visa category\. We pay our employees some of the highest compensation in the tech sector, and our wages are among the highest of all H\-1B filings\. We pay our H\-1B employees the same as any other employees doing comparable work\. The suspensions are part of a broader crackdown on immigration from the Trump administration, including its recently\-announced[price hike on H\-1B visas](https://www.theverge.com/policy/984723/trump-h1b-fee-asylum-legal-immigration)that are popular with Big Tech companies\. ***Update, October 8th**: Added Microsoft’s response\.* **Follow topics and authors**from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates\. - Jay Peters ## The Verge Daily A free daily digest of the news that matters most\.