The US has suspended Cognizant’s permanent labour certification filings, the first step in the process through which employers sponsor foreign workers for permanent residency, as the Trump administration intensifies its campaign against alleged visa fraud.
A Labor Department official posted “Handcuffs await” while announcing the move, tied to a nationwide fraud probe that started back in July.
Cognizant is one of the biggest H-1B sponsors in the US, and a federal jury has already found the company discriminated against non-Indian workers in a separate case.
This could open the door to more scrutiny on other big Indian IT firms like TCS, Infosys, Wipro, and HCL, since they all lean heavily on the same visa programs.
US Department of Labour Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito said on Tuesday that permanent labour certification filings by Cognizant and Cloudera had been suspended after an investigation carried out in coordination with the White House Fraud Task Force and other officials.
Announcing the action, D’Esposito said, “Threats to American workers will NOT be tolerated.” He added, “Fighting fraud is a TEAM SPORT. @Sonderling47 and I are for real. @Cognizant’s PERM filings are suspended. @DOLOIG is on the hunt,” referring to Keith Sonderling, Acting Secretary, Department of Labour. “Alongside @WHFraudTF, we’re following facts, fraud and finances. Handcuffs await,” he added.
The suspension will bar the Indian IT services company from filing new PERM applications until the department completes its investigation into alleged fraud involving its H-1B and PERM programmes, the department said.
PERM, or Program Electronic Review Management, is the process through which US employers seek approval from the Department of Labour to sponsor foreign workers for permanent residency. As part of the process, employers generally have to show that no qualified and available US workers exist for the job and that hiring a foreign worker will not hurt the wages or working conditions of American workers.
In July, the Trump administration launched a major investigation into alleged fraud involving the H-1B and PERM employment visa programmes. Cognizant was founded in Chennai in 1994 and is now headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey. According to data shared by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Cognizant had received approvals for 3,510 H-1B visa petitions as of June 30, compared with 9,413 in 2020.
The suspension of Cognizant’s PERM filings marks a fresh step in the US administration’s action over alleged fraud in employment visa programmes, with the company and Cloudera both coming under scrutiny as part of the latest investigation.
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With inputs from PTI
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