BENGALURU: IT firms had shrugged off concerns over their dependence on the US green-card route well before the US administration announced the suspension of PERM processing, with certified applications already declining sharply.Thirteen major IT services companies recorded 607 certified permanent labour certification (PERM) applications in the first nine months of FY26, compared with 1,670 in FY25 and 1,756 in FY24, according to Kotak Institutional Equities. Kotak has reported certified PERM applications across major IT services companies with Sep fiscal year-ends.
The decline comes as the US administration has suspended new and pending PERM applications involving TCS, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Wipro, Cognizant and Capgemini.
PERM is a key labour-certification stage in the process of obtaining employment-based green cards.TCS recorded just two certifications in the first nine months of FY26, against 505 in FY25 and 597 in FY24. Wipro also had two certifications, compared with 206 in FY25. HCLTech recorded 28, down from 94 in FY25 and six in FY24.Infosys had 12 certified applications in FY25, while the report shows no figure for the first nine months of FY26 or FY24.
Cognizant recorded 741 certifications in FY24, but the report does not provide figures for FY25 or the first nine months of FY26. Capgemini had seven certifications in the first nine months of FY26, against 290 in FY25 and 50 in FY24.Among the other companies covered, LTM recorded 168 certifications in the first nine months of FY26, up from 127 in FY25 and 159 in FY24. Persistent Systems reported 58, compared with 16 in FY25 and 10 in FY24. Mphasis recorded 82 certifications in the first nine months of FY26, against 132 in FY25 and 79 in FY24, while Hexaware Technologies had 73, compared with 24 and one, respectively.