US to Suspend Microsoft and Adobe's Participation in Green Card Program for Foreign Workers

US authorities are suspending Microsoft, Adobe and several other large tech companies from a program through which their foreign employees obtained green cards. The official reason is abuse of the system. The news comes from vc.ru. The report gives no exact name for the program, no number of affected workers and no length for the suspension, so some conclusions remain guesswork for now.

What is known and what is not

The facts are thin. Two companies are named, Microsoft and Adobe, followed by the phrase "some other large tech companies." There is no full list. Nobody has explained what the abuse actually was: inflated job requirements, sham job openings, or something else. It is also unclear whether the suspension applies to new applications or to cases already filed.

Until an official document appears, it makes sense to stick to a short summary:

• Who: Microsoft, Adobe and other large tech companies; the full list has not been disclosed.
• What: suspension of participation in a program that helps foreign workers obtain green cards.
• Why: abuse of the system; no details provided.
• Unknown: the program's name, the duration, the number of employees, and the fate of applications already filed.

Why this matters for the AI industry

AI development in the US relies on international talent. Machine learning researchers, infrastructure engineers, and chip and data center specialists often arrive on work visas. For them, a green card means freedom from dependence on a single employer and from the annual H-1B lottery.

The path to one is already long. The annual cap on employment-based green cards is about 140 thousand, and a 7% per-country limit applies on top of that. For citizens of India and China, who make up a particularly large share of the workforce at US tech companies, the queues stretch for years, and for Indians for decades. If an employer drops out of the program, its employees' cases may stall or have to be restructured. How badly depends on details that are not yet available.

The political backdrop

The news fits a pattern of tightening. In September 2025, the Trump administration introduced a 100 thousand dollar fee for new H-1B petitions and announced a paid "gold card" for wealthy immigrants. The report does not confirm a direct link between the current decision and those measures, but the direction is the same. The government is scrutinizing more and more closely how big business uses immigration channels.

For Microsoft and Adobe, the risk is twofold. The first hit lands on hiring and retention. The second is reputational: the word "abuse" in the public arena tends to draw investigations and lawsuits on its own.

What to do in practice

Employees of these companies with immigration cases in progress should ask HR and legal counsel for a written explanation. They need to find out whether their case is affected, whether they need fallback options, and how the suspension changes their timelines. Deciding to change jobs or relocate before official clarification arrives is risky.

AI startups and smaller companies would do well to check now whether their hiring plans rely on the same program or on similar schemes. If they do, they need a plan B: alternative visa categories, remote hiring outside the US, or offices in other jurisdictions.

Four things are worth watching: the official text of the decision, the full list of companies, the length of the suspension, and the response from Microsoft and Adobe themselves. Any one of them could sharply change the assessment of the scale.