IBM stops H-1B and green card sponsorship for US consulting roles
The tech company's decision affects immigrant workers seeking permanent residency in the United States.
Tech giant IBM is discontinuing H-1B visa and green card sponsorship for most positions within its US consulting division, according to reports from India Today and Times Now. The announcement, made on Tuesday, November 10, impacts foreign employees who use company sponsorship to secure work visas and permanent residency.
Affected staff members have been offered the choice to remain with IBM by working from outside the United States or exiting the firm by the end of the year, Bloomberg reported. The move involves both the H-1B programme and the Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) labour certification process.
An IBM spokesperson told Newsweek that the company's involvement in high-skilled visa programmes has been dropping for several years. The spokesperson stated that as client requirements and skill availability have changed, the company decided to end sponsorship for most such roles in IBM Consulting.
The decision arrives as the Trump administration increases its oversight of employment-based immigration. In October, Vice President JD Vance said that Microsoft and other large firms would face suspension from the PERM programme due to alleged fraud concerns. While IBM has not been named by the administration as facing action for PERM violations, the company's visa applications are lower than peers like Amazon, which applied for over 13,715 H-1B visas in fiscal year 2026.
US Department of Labor data shows IBM applied for more than 1,100 H-1B visas in the 2026 fiscal year ending September 30. It remains unclear how the change will affect current H-1B employees who are no longer eligible for company-sponsored green cards.
