Summary
On 8 October 2026, the United States suspended eight companies from the PERM programme, the Labor Department certification an employer needs to sponsor a foreign worker for a Green Card. The companies were Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Cognizant, HCL, Capgemini, Microsoft and Adobe and U.S.
Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling accused them of visa fraud. Vice President J.D. Vance described companies replacing American workers with foreign indentured servants. On 9 October, India's Ministry of External Affairs replied in two tones.
It noted that PERM is distinct from the H-1B programme, that existing H-1B visas are not automatically affected though Green Card processes may be and that talent mobility benefits both economies. It also called the Vice President's language unwarranted and said terminology with painful historical and colonial connotations was deeply offensive.
It concluded that the U.S. steps do not advance the two countries' shared ambitions. TCS, Microsoft and Nasscom played down the practical impact.
WHY IT MATTERS FOR UPSC & STATE PCS
India's Ministry of External Affairs on 9 October 2026 responded to the U.S. suspension of eight technology firms, five of them Indian, from the PERM Green Card route. It also rebuked U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance's description of foreign workers as indentured servants.
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Calm on Substance, Sharp on Words: The Calculated Split in India's Reply
The Interest Map
Washington has a domestic labour argument to win. Suspending eight companies from PERM and alleging fraud lets the administration show voters that it is protecting American jobs. Its central policy commitment is reducing foreign workers. The companies want to minimise damage.
TCS says its PERM filings were in single digits over two years and promises 15,000 U.S. hires. Microsoft says most of its U.S. staff are American. Nasscom says Indian firms have already cut their H-1B dependence. Each is reassuring both Washington and its shareholders. New Delhi has three things to protect at once: about 70% of H-1B holders are Indian; an IT sector that depends on the U.S. market; and a stalled trade negotiation it does not want to sink.
It also cannot let an insult to its citizens pass without a reply.
Reading the Two Registers The MEA's 9
October statement does two separate jobs. The technical register speaks to families and markets. PERM is distinct from the H-1B programme, it said and the suspension does not automatically affect existing H-1B visas, though Green Card processes may be hit.
Talent mobility benefits U.S. companies as much as Indian professionals. The aim is to stop panic. The political register speaks to the Indian public. Calling Indian professionals indentured servants is not neutral language in India.
It recalls the girmitiya system, under which more than 1.5 million Indians were shipped to colonial plantations between 1834 and 1917. The MEA called the description unwarranted and said language with painful colonial connotations was deeply offensive.
The split is deliberate. India is hard on the words and soft on the policy, because the words cost nothing to contest and the policy would cost a great deal to retaliate against.
The Clash of Categories Underneath
The deeper disagreement is about what skilled migration is.
- India's frame: it is trade in services, covered by GATS Mode 4, the WTO rule on the temporary movement of professionals. In 2016 India took the U.S. to the WTO (DS503) over H-1B and L-1 fee increases, calling them non-tariff barriers.
- Washington's frame: it is immigration, a domestic labour question to be reduced. The $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions in September 2025 and the PERM suspension both follow that logic. The PERM move bites harder than it looks. An H-1B worker can stay beyond six years only if a PERM application has been pending for 365 days. Shutting the employer out of PERM quietly closes that bridge.
Where the Balance Sits
India's leverage is thin. Trade-agreement talks have stalled despite months of negotiation, as reported. A WTO case takes years and was never resolved in India's favour. Retaliation would hurt Indian firms first. The MEA's statement is the strongest response available without raising the cost to India itself.
For the exam, the useful insight is that a partner's domestic politics can override a strategic partnership's stated priorities. India's best tool is not a protest note but making its firms less dependent on any one visa route, which is exactly what TCS and Nasscom are signalling.
Quick Facts
Key numbers & takeaways — revise these first
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PERM: Permanent Labor Certification, the U.S. Department of Labor step an employer must clear before sponsoring a foreign worker for an employment-based Green Card Suspension announced: 8 October 2026; MEA response: 9 October 2026 Companies suspended: Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Cognizant, HCL, Capgemini, Microsoft and Adobe U.S. Labour Secretary: Keith Sonderling; MEA spokesperson: Randhir Jaiswal The U.S. government said PERM had been linked to more than 2,30,000 H-1B approvals and 1,00,000 permanent residencies at these firms since 2009 About 70% of H-1B visa holders are Indian H-1B workers can normally stay six years, but can extend beyond that if a PERM application has been pending for at least 365 days The U.S. imposed a $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions in September 2025 GATS Mode 4 covers the temporary cross-border movement of service professionals under WTO rules India filed WTO dispute DS503 against U.S. visa fee hikes in 2016 The Girmitiya indenture system ran from 1834 to 1917 and moved over 1.5 million Indians to colonial plantations
Connect the dots for your UPSC preparation.
Standard news covers the event. Log in to read our comprehensive analysis and uncover the hidden constitutional, structural, and ethical dimensions of this topic:
A full interest map of Washington, the eight companies and New Delhi, showing why each acted as it did between 8 and 9 October
How the six-year H-1B limit and the 365-day PERM rule turn a Green Card freeze into a quiet threat to existing workers
Why India's GATS Mode 4 framing keeps losing to U.S. immigration politics, traced through the DS503 dispute and the $100,000 H-1B fee
A way forward that relies on diversifying talent routes and local hiring rather than protest notes India cannot enforce
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