Cognizant is facing a suspension of its PERM filings as the U.S. Department of Labor steps up its investigation into potential fraud involving the H-1B and employment-based green card programs.
The development was announced by Labor Department Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito in a post on X, in which he said Cognizant’s PERM filings had been suspended as federal officials investigate possible fraud involving the employment-based immigration system.
“Fighting fraud is a TEAM SPORT,” D’Esposito wrote, adding that the Labor Department’s Office of Inspector General was “on the hunt” and that threats to American workers would not be tolerated.
D’Esposito said the investigation is being conducted in coordination with the White House Fraud Task Force and other officials.
“Alongside @WHFraudTF, we’re following facts, fraud and finances,” he added.
The Labor Department has not publicly detailed the specific allegations against Cognizant or said how long the suspension will remain in effect.
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PERM, or Program Electronic Review Management, is a Labor Department process that employers generally must complete when seeking to sponsor foreign workers for employment-based permanent residency.
As part of the process, employers must generally show that there are no qualified and available U.S. workers for the position and that hiring a foreign worker will not negatively affect the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers in similar positions. Employers typically have to conduct recruitment and advertise the job before submitting a PERM application.
A certified PERM application allows an employer to move forward with subsequent stages of the employment-based green card process.
For Cognizant, the suspension could prevent the company from moving forward with new PERM filings while the federal investigation continues. The action does not, by itself, mean that existing PERM approvals have been revoked or that Cognizant employees with H-1B visas have lost their immigration status.
The development could nevertheless be significant for Indian technology professionals, given Cognizant’s long-standing use of the H-1B program and its large workforce of foreign-born technology workers.
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Cognizant is among several major Indian-origin technology services companies that have historically relied on employment-based immigration programs, alongside Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro and HCLTech.
The scrutiny of Cognizant could also raise questions about whether other companies that rely heavily on H-1B and PERM sponsorship could face closer examination of their immigration and recruitment practices.
The Labor Department’s action comes as the Trump administration has intensified its focus on alleged abuse and fraud within employment-based immigration programs. The Cognizant investigation could offer an indication of how aggressively federal authorities intend to pursue employers suspected of violating the rules governing foreign-worker sponsorship.
For now, the scope of the investigation and its potential impact on Cognizant’s existing and future immigration cases remain unclear.