Microsoft and Adobe suspended from employment-based green card program

Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that Microsoft has been suspended from the federal permanent labor certification program, preventing the company from filing new applications or advancing pending applications for workers seeking employment-based green cards.

The Labor Department said Adobe had also been suspended. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said the department would neither accept new permanent labor certification applications nor process pending ones involving the two companies.

Vance accused Microsoft of laying off U.S. employees while relying on lower-paid foreign workers through the H-1B visa system. He said companies should prioritize hiring American workers and claimed H-1B workers earned, on average, $20,000 less than U.S. workers in comparable positions.

Microsoft disputed the administration’s characterization. The company said most of its workforce is American and that 80% of the H-1B petitions it filed during the past year involved extensions or status changes for existing employees. It also said its H-1B employees receive the same pay as other employees performing comparable work and that its compensation is among the highest in the technology sector.

According to the Labor Department, Microsoft and Adobe have received about 230,000 H-1B approvals and 100,000 permanent labor certifications since 2009. Microsoft filed nearly 3,700 H-1B petitions in 2026, making it the fifth-largest employer using the visa program.