Washington

TheUS has suspended permanent labour certification filings (PERM) by Chennai-founded IT services company Cognizant and software firm Cloudera, as the Trump administration steps up its crackdown on alleged fraud and misuse of employment visa programmes.

The move could have implications for foreign workers seeking US employment-based Green Cards through Cognizant, including Indian technology professionals. The US Department of Labour has not disclosed the specific allegations against either company. Authorities have not publicly given details about the specific allegations against Cognizant or Cloudera, nor said how many PERM applications are affected or how long the suspension will last.

US Department of Labour Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito announced the suspension of the companies’ PERM filings, saying, “Threats to American workers will NOT be tolerated.”

D’Esposito said the investigation into the two companies was conducted in coordination with the White House Fraud Task Force and other officials.

Referring to Cognizant, he said its PERM filings had been suspended and that the Department of Labour’s Office of Inspector General was investigating. In another statement, D’Esposito said authorities were following “facts, fraud and finances”.

The development comes after the Trump administration launched a major investigation in July into alleged fraud involving the H-1B and PERM employment programmes.