Cognizant’s permanent labour certification filings have been suspended while the US investigates alleged fraud in the H-1B and PERM employment visa programmes. Anthony D'Esposito said on Tuesday that Cognizant’s filings were among those halted, putting the company under fresh federal scrutiny.
Anthony D'Esposito and DOLOIG
D'Esposito, the US Department of Labour Inspector General, posted that “Threats to American workers will NOT be tolerated.” He added: “Fighting fraud is a TEAM SPORT. @Sonderling47 and I are for real. @Cognizant's PERM filings are suspended. @DOLOIG is on the hunt” and “Alongside @WHFraudTF, we're following facts, fraud and finances. Handcuffs await.”
PERM stands for Program Electronic Review Management. Employers use it to seek approval from the Department of Labour to sponsor foreign workers for permanent residency, so a suspension blocks new applications while the investigation remains open. The department said Cognizant cannot file new PERM applications until that inquiry is completed.
US Fraud Probe Since July
The suspension sits inside a nationwide fraud probe that started in July under the Trump administration. The same investigation has also put Cloudera under scrutiny, and D'Esposito said permanent labour certification filings by Cognizant and Cloudera had both been suspended.
Cognizant was founded in Chennai in 1994 and is now headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey. Data shared by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services shows Cognizant had approvals for 3,510 H-1B visa petitions as of June 30, down from 9,413 H-1B visa petitions in 2020.
Cognizant Under Fresh Scrutiny
The company is facing this visa-fraud probe even though a federal jury has already found Cognizant discriminated against non-Indian workers in a separate case. That overlap makes the suspension more than a paperwork delay: it places one of the biggest H-1B sponsors in the US back under a federal lens while the Department of Labour continues its review.
For Cognizant, the immediate consequence is simple. New PERM sponsorship filings stay blocked until the Department of Labour finishes its investigation, and the action suggests the pressure around H-1B and PERM compliance will continue to shape the company’s US staffing options.
