IBM halts H-1B, green card sponsorship for most consulting roles:Foreign workers in US told to quit their jobs or leave country

Tech company IBM has decided to stop H-1B visa and green card sponsorship for most positions in its consulting business in the US. The decision will affect foreign employees who rely on the company’s visa sponsorship to work in the US. According to Bloomberg, affected employees have been given the option of continuing to work for IBM while staying outside the US until the end of the year, or leaving the company. The decision comes at a time when the Trump administration has stepped up scrutiny of legal immigration and visas sponsored by companies. H-1B and PERM processes to be affected IBM’s decision will apply to applications under the H-1B visa programme and the PERM process. PERM, or Programme Electronic Review Management, is the initial stage of the most common category for obtaining employment-based green cards in the United States. Under this process, a company must prove that no qualified American workers are available for the positions for which foreign employees are being hired. This is also known as labour certification. However, it is not yet clear what will happen to existing H-1B employees who will no longer qualify for this after the company stops sponsoring green cards. IBM applied for more than 1,100 H-1B visas in 2026 According to US Department of Labour data, IBM applied for more than 1,100 H-1B visas in the 2026 financial year. The financial year ended on 30 September. However, information on how many of these employees later applied for permanent residency, or green cards, was not immediately available. IBM has submitted far fewer visa applications than other major technology companies. By the third quarter of fiscal year 2026, Amazon had applied for more than 13,715 H-1B visas. This figure is nearly 11 times higher than IBM’s. Apple, Meta and Microsoft had also applied for nearly four times as many visas as IBM. Trump administration steps up scrutiny of visa programmes IBM’s decision comes at a time when the Trump administration is tightening scrutiny of the H-1B visa and employment-based green card processes. Companies generally begin the green card process through PERM labour certification to retain employees in the US for extended periods. The programme has also faced criticism. It is alleged that companies prioritise hiring foreign workers at lower wages amid layoffs of American employees.