Green Cards + J-1 Scholar Programs

8 October 2026

In a press conference on October 8, 2026, Vice President JD Vance announced steps the administration is taking after having investigated alleged fraud in the H-1B and J-1 visa programs. Two major announcements included:

• Suspending the access of seven tech companies - including Microsoft and Adobe - from the permanent labor certification process (PERM), which is a required part of the green card sponsorship process (TLDR: no new green card applications for these companies)

• Launching investigations into the J-1 Scholar programs at nine major universities, including Arizona State, Brown, Caltech, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, UC - Davis, University of Pittsburgh, and Yale. Subpoenas have been issued.

Regulations allow the Department of Labor to suspend labor certification applications for up to 180 days, though DOL can extend the suspension if there is not a resolution by that time. For the J-1 Scholar programs, no administrative changes are required while the investigations proceed. If you have questions about PERM or J-1 scholar sponsorship, please reach out to our Help Desk as someplace to start.

For more details on Thursday’s press conference and its implications, check out these articles from Forbes and Time