Tech giant IBM has decided to halt H-1B visa and green card sponsorship for most roles in its US consulting business. The move comes amid the President Donald Trump-led administration’s widespread crackdown
on what it describes as the abuse of employer-sponsored visas.
According to a Bloomberg report, affected employees have been asked to either continue working for IBM from outside the US or leave the company by the end of the year. The decision will impact immigrant workers at IBM Consulting who rely on the company for work visa sponsorship.
An IBM spokesperson confirmed the development to Newsweek, stating that the firm’s participation in US high-skilled visa programs to address skill shortages had been decreasing for several years.
“IBM Consulting participates in U.S. high-skilled visa programs to address skill shortages. That participation has been declining for a number of years and as skill availability and client need have evolved, we have opted to discontinue visa and green card sponsorship for the majority of such roles in IBM Consulting,” said the person.
The move will impact applications under the H-1B programme and the PERM (Program Electronic Review Management) process, the first step in the most common employment-based green card category.
However, it is not clear whether the existing H-1B employees will be impacted.
According to US Department of Labor data, while IBM applied for more than 1,100 H-1B visas in the 2026 fiscal year, Amazon applied for more than 13,175 H-1b visas. Other tech giants, including Apple, Meta, and Microsoft, each applied for nearly four times as many visas as IBM.
Trump Admin Tightens Grip On H-1B Employers
The move comes as the Trump administration tightens grip on H-1B visa employers and the employment-based green card pathway.
The H-1B program is a US non-immigrant work visa that allows employers to temporarily hire foreign workers in H-1B visa. It is initially granted for three years and can be extended for another three years. Employers, who are seeking to retain workers permanently, can begin the green card process through PERM labour certification.
While the annual cap is restricted to a base of 65,000 visas for general applicants, an additional 20,000 visas are reserved for individuals holding a US master’s degree or higher.
The programme is under scrutiny by the Trump administration over allegations that companies often sideline American talents, because they are able to hire foreign workers at lower wages.
In October, US Vice President JD Vance announced that tech giant Microsoft and other companies would be barred from the PERM programme over alleged fraud concerns.
“We want people to invest in the United States of America, particularly the American technology sector,” Vance had said.
The latest crackdown on H-1B visa program marks yet another setback for immigrant professionals in the US, who are seeking long-term employment and permanent residency.
