Tech giants Amazon & Google suspend green card applications amid layoffs

The intensifying competition is making conditions increasingly challenging for foreign workers, the Daily Guardian reported.

The halt in the green card application procedure could worsen the challenges encountered by international candidates seeking jobs in the US, especially in the technology industry. Amazon and Google have both temporarily stopped PERM applications until the next year.

PERM, administered by the US Department of Labor, is a procedure aimed at securing permanent labor certification. Its primary objective is to safeguard job opportunities, wages, and working conditions for American workers while admitting foreign workers. Often, PERM serves as the initial stage in the green card acquisition process.

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Amazon made an internal announcement earlier this year stating its decision to halt all PERM filings through 2024 due to operational constraints. Google similarly suspended its PERM applications in January 2023, coinciding with the layoff of 12,000 employees. Employees were informed that the PERM process would not resume until the first quarter of 2025.

Ava Benach, founding partner of Benach Collopy, a distinguished immigration law firm in Washington DC, commented that tech companies are following Google’s strategy due to its significant influence in the industry.Collopy said that, “With more US workers available for open positions, the labor market test fails and so the process becomes a waste of time and money for these tech companies.” Collopy explained.“If tech companies have done layoffs relatively recently, they also have to notify laid off workers of new positions that may be going to foreign workers. If some of these people say ‘yes, I’m interested,’ then you’re out of luck with the green card application,” she added, according to the Daily Guardian.