This guide is for people whose green card runs through an employer whose PERM cases DOL has put on hold as a group, as it did for several large employers on October 8, 2026. News reports and law firm alerts describe a suspension and name eight employers: Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL and Capgemini. DOL hasn't confirmed that list. What a suspension means for you depends on one thing, how far your case had gone, so the answer below is by stage.
What DOL has said in writing, as of October 16, 2026
Nothing published. There's no notice in the Federal Register and nothing on OFLC's announcements pages, so there's no stated reason, scope or end date. What does exist is DOL's own case system, which shows the holds case by case. The counts on this site come from there.
The cases on hold today
As of October 17, 2026, 2,880 of the 90,393 PERM cases waiting on DOL are on hold (3.2%), read from DOL's own case system.
| Where pending cases sit | Cases |
|---|---|
| Analyst review | 83,221 |
| Application on hold | 2,880 |
| Reconsideration appeals | 2,669 |
| BALCA appeals | 887 |
| RFI issued | 642 |
| NORD issued | 75 |
| Request for review | 14 |
| Supervised recruitment | 3 |
| Reconsideration appeals - rfi issued | 2 |
4 employers hold 2,824 of the 2,880 (98%):
- Cognizant Technology Solutions US Corporation: 1,831 of 1,831 pending on hold; on hold since before August 27, 2026, when this site's record begins.
- Microsoft Corporation: 598 of 598 pending on hold; on hold since October 8, 2026.
- Adobe Inc.: 226 of 226 pending on hold; 215 on hold since September 24, 2026; 1 already on hold when first recorded; 10 put on hold on other days.
- Capgemini America, Inc.: 169 of 169 pending on hold; on hold since October 8, 2026.
The other 56 are spread across smaller filers. When nearly all of one employer's pending cases are on hold, the hold is on its filings as a group, and no one application in it was picked out. The status itself carries no reason.
DOL's moves are dated in this site's daily record. On October 8, 2026 it put 598 of Microsoft's pending cases on hold, 169 of Capgemini's, 10 of Adobe's and 7 of Tata Consultancy Services'. Adobe's larger group went on hold on September 24, and Cognizant's cases were already held when the record began in late August. The employers under review page shows each move by day, and you can follow an employer there to get an email when DOL moves its cases as a group.
The rule this most likely runs under
DOL hasn't named it, and law firms point to 20 CFR 656.31(b). It lets DOL "suspend processing of any permanent labor certification application involving such employer ... until completion of any investigation and/or judicial proceedings". It also sets a first checkpoint: a suspension "may last initially for up to 180 days", after which the National Certifying Officer "may resume processing some or all of the applications, or may extend the suspension".
If the suspension began on October 8, the 180th day is Tuesday, April 6, 2027. That's the first point at which the regulation asks for a decision. It isn't a promised end date.
DOL has used this kind of suspension before. Its news release of May 12, 2026 (release 26-734-NAT) announced it was suspending "processing of all permanent labor certification applications filed by, or on behalf of, Cloudera" for 180 days, with a possible extension pending a Justice Department investigation.
What it means at your stage
| Where your case is | What the suspension touches | What still holds | The rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recruitment done, PERM not filed | Reports say DOL won't take new filings from these employers | Nothing is filed, so there's no priority date yet. Recruitment steps must be under 180 days old at filing, so long delays mean recruiting again | 20 CFR 656.17(e) |
| PERM filed, now on hold | DOL stops working the case | The case stays filed with its filing date, which becomes your priority date if it's certified | 8 CFR 204.5(d) |
| PERM certified | The suspension rule covers processing, and a certified case's processing is finished. Revoking a certification takes its own notice under 656.32 | The 180-day window to file the I-140 keeps running. Nothing pauses it | 20 CFR 656.30(b)(1), 656.32 |
| I-140 pending or approved | This stage is USCIS's | An approval 180 days old survives an employer withdrawal, and the priority date is kept | 8 CFR 205.1(a)(3)(iii)(C), 204.5(e) |
| I-485 pending 180 days or more | This stage is USCIS's | You can move to a same or similar job with a new employer | INA 204(j), 8 CFR 245.25 |
Two points need a closer look.
The I-140 rows carry one real risk. A priority date is kept after a withdrawal, but not if USCIS revokes the approval because of fraud, a DOL revocation or invalidation of the labor certification, or a material error (8 CFR 204.5(e)(2)). An investigation isn't a finding, and nothing like that has been announced for any case. It's the reason the investigation matters to people whose PERM was certified long ago.
The H-1B extensions keep working. The one-year extensions past six years depend on a PERM or I-140 filed at least 365 days earlier, and they run "until ... a final decision has been made" to deny it (8 CFR 214.2(h)(13)(iii)(D)(2)). A hold isn't a final decision. The new H-1B employer doesn't have to be the one that filed the PERM ((D)(6)). The six-year guide works through the dates.
What people are saying, against the regulation
| What's said | What the regulation says |
|---|---|
| Workers at these companies can't stay past six years. | The 365-day rule turns on a PERM or I-140 filed long enough ago and not finally denied. A hold doesn't end it. |
| A company with mass layoffs can't file PERM for 180 days. | 20 CFR 656.17(k) makes an employer notify and consider workers it laid off in the occupation and area within six months. It adds a step. It doesn't bar the filing. |
| My priority date is gone. | A filed PERM keeps its filing date while it waits. An approved I-140's date is kept for a later petition except for the four reasons in 204.5(e)(2). |
What to do now
Check your own case
Put your case number into case status to see DOL's current status and the date it last changed. If you don't have the number, find it by employer.
Write down your dates
The PERM filing date, the I-140 approval date if you have one, the I-485 receipt date, and the date your H-1B time runs out. Every rule above turns on one of them.
Get told when something moves
Leave an email on your case page for that case, and follow the employer on its page for group moves. One email per change.
Ask the attorney three questions
Has the employer received a written notice of suspension? Is my case one of those held? If my I-140 is approved, when does it pass 180 days, and has my I-485 been pending 180 days?
Nothing here is legal advice. Your options depend on your dates, and the attorney has them.
What this guide can't tell you
- Why DOL suspended these employers. DOL attaches no reason to a status, and the eight employers' cases have no published explanation. DOL's Inspector General posted about Cognizant on September 8, 2026, and the on-hold guide quotes it.
- When it ends. There's no stated end date. The 180-day point is a checkpoint.
- Whether held cases will be decided on their merits afterward. The regulation provides for that when charges end without a finding of fraud (656.31(d)). Nothing has been said about these cases.
