How to Triage Pending Green-Card Cases When PERM Processing Stops

The first deadline is the one you can see in the case file, not the one in the press release. When DOL halts PERM for a named employer, the immediate job is to separate pending green-card cases from routine sponsorship work. The named group includes Microsoft, Adobe, Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies, and Capgemini. DOL declared on October 8, 2026 that PERM green-card filings from those eight employers would be halted. The workaround is a triage file that shows who is near H-1B max-out, what evidence is already in hand, and what alternative status can be documented before the next filing window closes.

The freeze is employer-specific, so the first triage is identity

PERM is usually the first government step in an employer-sponsored employment-based green-card case. The restriction is employer-specific, so the first question is whether the legal entity that filed, or the entity that will file, is inside the named group. If the answer is yes, the case is no longer a normal pipeline item. It is a compliance exposure that needs a dated file. The entity check comes before any case-level prediction.

DOL would reject new permanent labor certification filings and would not advance pending filings from the affected employers. Existing green-card applications would remain unprocessed, and the companies could not file new ones.

New and pending H-1B visa applications and PERM labor-certification applications would not be processed. The October 8, 2026 announcement discussed H-1B and J-1 visas as context, but it did not include an H-1B suspension. That ambiguity is part of the triage. You need to know which applications are actually stopped, which are merely delayed, and which can still move.

The public dispute is not the triage problem. Vice President JD Vance said Microsoft had abused immigration programs, pointing to 6,000 U.S. job cuts in the prior year, 6,300 H-1B visas, and nearly 3,000 green cards. Microsoft said extensions or status changes for existing employees made up about 80% of its roughly 6,000 H-1B applications in the last fiscal year. For counsel, the useful takeaway is that the freeze can land on a company whose H-1B volume is mostly maintenance, not new hiring.

Vance did not give a fixed expiration date for the suspension. The pause would continue for the period the government deemed necessary. The triage file becomes the only reliable calendar. The file should show what is stopped, what is still possible, and what evidence supports each conclusion. Each entry should carry the source document or system record that supports it.

The checklist turns a frozen pipeline into a defensible file

The H-1B category allows two terms totaling six years, after which an employer may seek a green card for the worker. Under DOL's 2007 PERM final rule, an approved permanent labor certification stays valid for 180 calendar days, and the employer must use it to support a Form I-140 filing with DHS before the window closes. Those two clocks define the triage order.

Use the list below as the control document. Each item is a fact you can verify in a minute, not a prediction about when the pause ends. The record is the deliverable.

• Confirm whether the filing entity is one of the eight named in the DOL halt.
• Pull the pending PERM status, including whether it is filed, approved, or left unprocessed.
• Mark H-1B expiration dates and identify employees near max-out.
• Flag extension eligibility for employees who may need more H-1B time.
• Pull the labor-condition evidence and supporting documents.
• Check the approved-PERM filing window.
• Separate contractor, client-site, and secondment relationships from direct employment.
• Document alternative-status options, including extensions, status changes, or a move to a non-affected entity.
• Prepare a client communication that states the freeze, the affected stage, and the next review date.

The early items isolate the legal exposure. The middle items protect the filing window. The final items create a communication trail. Assign each case to a named owner and a review date before the next employee meeting.

The workaround is a documented alternative-status plan

When PERM is frozen, the green-card pipeline changes shape. The employer may still need to preserve visa time, support a status change, or move the employee to an entity that is not inside the restriction. Max-out cases get priority because the filing window and the visa clock interact. The file should show what the employer did to preserve the option, even if the option cannot be exercised yet. A later reviewer should be able to see the decision path.

The last item is the one that protects the company in a later review. A short note to the employee or client should say what is stopped, what remains available, and when the file will be rechecked. Do not promise a timeline that the company cannot verify. Do not speculate about unannounced policy. The note should state the case, the risk, and the next step.