Washington, DC, September 9 — The US Department of Labor has suspended permanent labor certification submissions for Cognizant, a key step through which employers sponsor foreign workers for permanent residency, as the Trump administration intensifies enforcement against alleged visa fraud.
A Labor Department official announced the action on social media, linking it to a nationwide investigation launched in July.
US Department of Labor Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito said Tuesday that permanent labor certification filings for Cognizant and Cloudera had been suspended following an investigation conducted with the White House Fraud Task Force and other authorities.
D’Esposito said the investigation was focused on potential fraud involving employment-based immigration programs and warned that threats to American workers would not be tolerated.
The development comes amid heightened scrutiny across the United States of corporate reliance on foreign-worker visa programs and employment-based immigration systems. Large Indian IT services companies have historically relied on foreign talent and US immigration programs to staff client projects.
PERM, or Program Electronic Review Management, is the process through which US employers seek Labor Department certification to sponsor foreign workers for permanent residency. Employers generally must demonstrate that qualified and available US workers are not available for the position and that hiring a foreign worker will not adversely affect wages or working conditions for similarly employed US workers.
In July, the Trump administration launched a nationwide investigation into alleged fraud involving the H-1B and PERM employment visa programs.
Cognizant was founded in Chennai in 1994 and is headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey. According to figures published by US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Cognizant had received approval for 3,510 H-1B visa applications through June 30, compared with 9,413 approvals in 2020.
The suspension of Cognizant’s PERM filings marks an escalation in the US government’s campaign against alleged employment visa fraud and places both Cognizant and Cloudera under direct scrutiny. (ANI)
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