00:00It's a U.S. crackdown on eight of the major firms, IT firms, that is, over the Visa Rao.
00:07Going back to it, it's TCS, the IT giant that's come out to respond to this entirety of the matter.
00:12Earlier we were taking it through the Microsoft response that's come in the statement.
00:16Now TCS has to say that this particular crackdown does not affect us
00:20because the perm suspension will not affect our workforce,
00:24neither will it impact on client engagements
00:27because perm applications, our perm applications, were in the first place to begin with in single digits.
00:33The U.S. perm suspension will not affect the workforce strategy.
00:36There's a statement that's now coming from the Indian tech giant, IT tech giant, that is, TCS,
00:42saying the U.S. suspension of the perm, that is, the entire permanent employee residency program,
00:48the labor certification program for the green card,
00:51will have no impact on its workforce strategy or client engagements
00:55as its perm applications were already in single digits over not just this year,
01:00but the past two years at this point.
01:03So which is why they have to say that their client engagements will not be affected.
01:08So somewhere we see all of these tech companies have now come out to start saying
01:13that their perm applications had already started lowering,
01:17they didn't have as many applications in the first place and that they had begun going back to the programs
01:25wherein we have American employees being prioritized first by the Trump government itself.
01:31So at this given point, there's a lot of conversation around the entirety.
01:35There are these tech companies now starting to respond to the entire situation
01:39and they seem to be putting up at least a statement or a front of not being too bothered
01:46or not being too affected and impacted by this entire move.
01:50But what is this move indeed that we are speaking of?
01:53Let's take you a little more into the details and context of it.
01:56It's a major setback for the Indian IT companies in the United States.
02:00The Trump administration has suspended the access of several major IT firms to the perm program,
02:04which is a key step in the employment-based green card process.
02:08The companies named include, there are eight major companies.
02:11Out of them include four Indian IT companies, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL Tech,
02:17French firm Capgemini, as well as the U.S. tech giants Microsoft, Adobe and Cognizant.
02:22U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance has said that the companies are under scrutiny over alleged visa fraud,
02:28accusing them of replacing American workers with foreign labor.
02:31Vance has also said the administration wants American workers prioritized,
02:34calling on Congress to reform the H-1B visa system.
02:38U.S. firm program is the labor certification process through which employers generally sponsor foreign workers for permanent U.S.
02:46residency.
02:46Now, the suspension means affected companies cannot make fresh firm filings while the action remains in place,
02:53potentially delaying the green card pathways for thousands of foreign professionals, including Indians,
02:57and it also freezes the pending applications at this point of time.
03:03So, it's a two-way crackdown almost of sorts that we see.
03:07Let's take a look at the reactions first before we proceed with the discussion.
03:11Thanks to an ongoing investigation, we have decided to suspend the PERM program for Microsoft,
03:17which means they will no longer be able to apply, they'll no longer be able to take those H-1Bs
03:23and apply for permanent resident status within the United States of America.
03:28And so, our message to Microsoft is, you're a great American company, but you've got to hire great American workers.
03:34You cannot lay off American workers and then replace them with foreign indentured servants.
03:39The suspension of PERM is going to last as long as it needs to.
03:41We have a number of tools to suspend it indefinitely, but we actually want these companies to change their behavior,
03:47improve their behavior, and actually get better.
03:50That's the goal here.
03:50We're not just punishing them to punish them.
03:52We're punishing them because we want them to change their behavior.
03:54The H-1B visa program is meant to allow companies to bring in really the best of the best from
04:00outside the United States of America
04:02for positions that are completely impossible to fill with American workers.
04:06Unfortunately, the program has become rife with fraud.
04:11Rohit Sharma joining us on the broadcast with more details now.
04:15Rohit, with the current restrictions in place, what are the options available, you would say, for all the Indian workers
04:22at this point?
04:25Well, you talk about what other options one has to obtain a green card.
04:31There are pretty limited options.
04:32Only five categories where you can get a green card in the U.S.
04:38Either you can come to America on asylum, seek asylum.
04:42You can come to family, the family categories, and then the empowerment categories.
04:48American immigration system is very complicated.
04:51So for these people who are working in America on work visas, it seems like they have to explore some
05:00of their options if they want to pursue getting a green card.
05:04And again, it's a long process.
05:06I mean, there's a lot of line.
05:08There's a lot of queue.
05:09There's a lot of restrictions on all these things.
05:12So one would say, you know, it's going to be tough.
05:15And I don't think not everybody would be able to extort that option very readily.
05:26No, you know, from what we know, it's not going to impact people who already have an approved program process.
05:32So it's going to essentially be not applied retro.
05:36I think it's always going to be looking forward.
05:39And that's what at least, you know, what we heard from the press conference.
05:43Now, as I've been saying, you have to look at what directives are issued by Department of Labor because they're
05:49the ones that manage the perm process and USCIS and DHS.
05:54And so we'll have to wait and watch as to how those things are put into practice.
05:59But just understanding, you know, after that announcement and spending time talking to some people, the basic understanding is that
06:06these companies, the Indian companies, the Indian companies that outsource work and also have projects in the U.S.
06:12and Adobe and Microsoft, they will not be able to apply for a perm going forward.
06:20Thank you for putting that into perspective for our viewers at this given point.
06:26And viewers, there are a lot of questions at this point.
06:29There are several doubts that come to one's mind, especially immigrants at this point, as to how will this entire
06:34green card crackdown affect them?
06:36Let's take you a little more into the details of some of these questions and what exactly will the immediate
06:43impacts be like?
06:44Immediate impact on Indians from this entire move, the blockage in employer-sponsored green card process.
06:51It comes to a halt, immediate halt that is.
06:54Will H-1B visas be affected then?
06:57Well, valid H-1B status, not lost still.
07:00May Indian techies to be hit the hardest?
07:03Well, yes, impact is same for every Indian worker at this given point.
07:07The other question that comes in is, can Indian IT companies use other visa routes?
07:12Well, simple answer, they can consider an L-1A visa or intra-company transfer visa.
07:21Now, one of the biggest questions is, what happens to the pending perm applications?
07:27They are likely to face harder scrutiny because they have been completely shut down at this given point of time.
07:33Will Indian IT companies change their US hiring then?
07:36Well, firms could actually sponsor fewer green cards, hire more Americans.
07:40Will Indians then be less willing to settle in the United States?
07:46Well, H-1B workers could be reluctant to settle in the United States at this point of time.
07:53So, this is the entirety of the question that comes to the light.
07:57And as we speak, these are some of the common questions that are coming to the forefront.
08:04What is then, viewers, what is the PAM program that we are speaking of here?
08:08Let's also take you through the details of that.
08:10It's a labor certification program that we are speaking of.
08:16That is in the heart of this entire controversy.
08:19Employer-sponsored route to permanent US residency.
08:21That is how this entirety of the scheme works.
08:24It stands for Program Electronic Review Management.
08:28That's the full form.
08:29Now, what does an employee do here?
08:32An employee files on behalf of the foreign worker, checks whether the US workers are available,
08:37and then protects American wages and jobs opportunities by first checking whether there are qualified Americans for that job.
08:45If not, only then they go ahead and approve this particular process for a certain immigrant employee,
08:52allowing their green card process to proceed.
08:54And that then establishes the worker's place in the green card queue.
08:59It's just a start for the process.
09:01It doesn't ensure that you'll get a green card.
09:03Again, it's different from the temporary H-1B work visa.
09:07So, it lies somewhere, the PAM lies somewhere in between of an H-1B work visa program and a green
09:12card.
09:12It gives you temporary, at this given point, position in the green card queue.
09:18Also, let's take a quick look at how many companies are suspended from US green card program.
09:24Indian companies, that include Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL Tech.
09:28American companies, the two giants, Microsoft and Adobe, as well as Cognizant.
09:33And one French company that's come in the helm of affairs here is the Capgemini.
09:37So, these are the eight companies currently that's facing scrutiny.
09:41Under this, there's a full halt on the PAM program.
09:45No new applications and pending applications will not be allowed.
