'80% of filings were for existing staff': Microsoft pushes back on Vance’s H-1B visa claims

Caught in the middle of a sharper immigration debate in the US, Microsoft said on Thursday that 80 per cent of the around 6,000 H-1B visa applications it filed in the last fiscal year were meant to extend or change the status of existing employees, and not to hire new people. The statement came hours after Vice President J D Vance suspended Microsoft from a programme to apply for green cards for foreign workers, PTI reported.

The company said the remaining filings for new employees were for people already legally in the United States who chose to join Microsoft, and that these applications amounted to only one per cent of its US workforce. The suspension covers the Labour Department's Permanent Labour Certification programme, known as PERM, which is considered the first step for a foreign worker to receive permanent residency, or a green card, to live and work in the US.

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"We believe in the strength and talent of the American workforce. That is why the vast majority of Microsoft employees in the US are Americans. We look forward to providing the administration with additional information," Microsoft said.

"For example, of the approximately 6,000 H-1B visa applications we submitted in the last fiscal year, 80 per cent were to extend or change the status of existing Microsoft employees. These were not to hire new people," it said.

"They are not new arrivals to our country," Microsoft said, referring to the remaining filings for new employees who were already in the US legally. Microsoft also said it files H-1B petitions only for those who meet the rigorous standards of the visa category. "We pay our employees some of the highest compensation in the tech sector, and our wages are among the highest of all H-1B filings. We pay our H-1B employees the same as any other employees doing comparable work," the company said.

"Microsoft succeeds as a global technology leader by developing the world's best technology workforce. We do this by strengthening this country's talent pipeline, hiring American workers, and attracting the best talent from around the world," it added.

Separately, industry body Nasscom said immigration and skilled talent mobility are "two distinct issues" that should not be viewed through the same lens after the US suspended eight tech firms, including Tata, Infosys, HCL and Wipro, from a key green card programme. The latest action comes amid mounting challenges for Indian IT companies in the US, including tighter scrutiny of work visas and higher costs for H-1B applicants.

The latest development in the US, the biggest market for the $300 billion Indian IT industry, has added to uncertainty for tech outsourcers that depend on the cross-border movement of skilled professionals.

In a statement, Nasscom said, "The US Department of Labour has today announced the temporary suspension of certain IT companies, including Indian technology companies operating in the US, from filing new applications under the Permanent Labour Certification (PERM) programme." It added, "While the decision affects a specific immigration pathway, Nasscom has consistently maintained that immigration and skilled talent mobility are two distinct issues that should not be viewed through the same lens," summing up the concern around the latest US move.