US Labor Department Suspends Cognizant’s PERM Filings Amid Investigation

The U.S. Department of Labor has suspended Cognizant’s filings under the Permanent Labor Certification (PERM) programme amid an ongoing investigation into alleged fraud involving employment visa programmes. The action was announced by Anthony D’Esposito, Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Labor, who said the department was working with Deputy Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling and the White House Fraud Task Force as part of a broader enforcement effort.

PERM, or Program Electronic Review Management, is a labour certification process that employers generally complete before sponsoring eligible foreign workers for employment-based permanent residency in the US. As part of the process, employers are required to demonstrate that there are no qualified and available US workers for the position and that hiring a foreign worker will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of US workers.

The suspension prevents Cognizant from filing new PERM applications while the investigation continues. The action does not directly affect the company’s existing PERM approvals or H-1B visa programmes. The Labor Department has not publicly detailed the specific allegations underlying the investigation, and the suspension itself does not establish that Cognizant committed fraud or violated immigration laws.